Metroid Prime: The Lylat Wars
by TheLastRanger
Summary: Finding themselves in the centre of a very familiar situation, Star Fox must fight to protect the Lylat System from the nefarious plots of Andrew, but strange new aliens find themselves caught in this war also...
1. Prologue: Enter Star Fox

(AN)- alright, here's a wee project I've decided to work on lol, just something I imagine could happen because of the sci fi themes of both stories lol. (Takes place some time after Metroid Prime 3 and Star Fox Assault)

* * *

_**Metroid Prime-The Lylat Wars**_

* * *

**Prologue: Enter Star Fox**

**Fox McCloud**

"I've got a lock on you, Falco! You're not getting away _this _time!" I smirked and tracked Falco's Arwing with my targeting perimeters, narrowly avoiding the Meteo asteroid field we fought in. "Surrender and I _might _consider going easy on you!"

"Implying _you're _in any position to make _me_ surrender?!" My wingman sharply responded, making a swift nose dive down. He somehow flipped his ship so it faced me before I could even avoid him, he sharply boasted. "You're damn good, but you're _not _the _best. _Fancy flying, _Fox." _

I was directly hit from below by a fully charged shot, my ship violently shaking from side to side. _This was it, Fox…_

Vision went dark…

...

* * *

"Ha! Can't beat the best, can we, Fox?" Falco snidely taunted as my Awing simulation pod's cockpit window opened slowly. Not as bad as he use to be but still a smug hotshot , Falco…

"You'd be dead if that was an _actual _dogfight, Falco." I scoffed and jumped out of the simulation pod and onto the metal floor beneath. The blue bird stood before me, tapping his foot with a smug expression. Cocky son of a-

"Don't get too Mad, _Fox_. You did better than Slippy," Krystal said, reclining back on a chair, fiddling with the beads in her blue hair. The Cerinian winked at me. "_That's_ _better than most."_

"Gee, thanks Krystal…" I stared at the blue fox with a grimace and sighed and dropped my shoulders in defeat, wasn't in the mood for banter anyway. "I'm _glad _I have you as a source of encouragement..._really." _

"Love you too~" She giggled and stood up, making her way to the exit.

"I can hear you, y'know," Jumping out of his simulation pod was Slippy Toad, wearing an annoyed expression on his face and placed his grey cap on his head. He sighed and walked past us. "Yeah I know I'm not as good as a pilot as the rest of you, but what would you do if I wasn't around to keep fixing and upgradin' the Arwings? You'd have to deal with Fara more often. "

Slippy did have a _very_ good point, but before I could say anything to thank him, Falco wrapped a wing around my shoulder and started walking me to the door.

"So, _guessing _drinks are on _you _when we get to Corneria?" The bird smugly asked as we entered one of the many hallways of the Great Fox, making its way to our destination. I swear, sometime I just wanted to pluck all of that bird's feathers and toss them out the airlock.

"Yeah yeah, I'll pick up the tab, _again_." I grumbled. After that nightmarish fortnight long mission we had earlier against Star Wolf, I was ready to take my boots off, kick my paws up and _never _walk again...but that was just a dream at this point. I stared out the window as the stars slowly moved by. For somewhere so chaotic, untamed and wild, space can be oddly...relaxing. A slight smile appeared on my muzzle as I stopped to stare at a far, far away galaxy. I guess being a Space Pilot had its perks _sometimes._

"_Now entering the Lylat System." _ROB spoke over the ship intercom system. 'Bout damn time. I was _so_ ready to take a break for a while. Continuing to the bridge, I rested my arms behind my head and relaxed somewhat. It's been _too_ long since I've been back here…

With a sigh, I entered the bridge, with Falco just on my _tail. _In the distance, I could make out a blue dot that was Corneria. About damn time. I took a seat next to Krystal, who was sitting on the couch reading something on a tablet. I noted our recruits sitting in the chair in front of us. The lynx and spaniel were chattering amongst themselves about the ship. Heh, glad they were eager. Krystal looked at from the corner of her eyes and smirked, laying down and resting a single leg on my lap. I smirked back and relaxed.

"I swear you two only do this in this room to annoy us or something…" Peppy grumbled while sitting at a command console that displayed our Homeworld, his voice grizzled with age. "don't both of you have a room-?"

"Don't worry, 'Pep, they're _definitely_ not a thing, promise." Falco chuckled and leaned up against a wall, peering over to us with green eyes, a slight grin on his beak. "Aren't ya?"

"Like you and Katt?" I retorted and rolled my eyes, leaning back into the soft-ish chair and sighed. "What's our ETA to Corneria? Being cooped up in here is killing me…"

"Approximately an hour and a half, Fox," Slippy responded, not looking away from his control console, casually typing something with a relaxed expression. Probably checking on one of the many modifications he installed ever since the Grand Fox was rebuilt.

"Ah, been too long since I've been back," The hare sighed happily and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Space is getting weary on these old bones, ha! The General will be happy to see us. I wonder how the old dog is-" Peppy was cut off by alarms blaring and the main communications screen flashing red with the word 'ALERT' flashing with it. What the?! Krystal and I immediately jumped to our feet quickly and falco uncrossed his arms. "What in sam hill is this...?!"

"Sorry! False alarm!" Slippy shouted as he quickly turned off the lights and sirens, "Accidently tripped the master alarm when working on integrating those new coils, Forgot to adjust the monitoring program." With a few more keystrokes the toad nodded in satisfaction. "There, got it""

"Sure took you long enoug-" Falco started to remark before the Master alarm started blaring agian. "Slippy!"

"It's not me! Emergency transmission from Cornaria! It's from the General!" Slippy defended.

"On screen"

"_Star Fox! We need your help yet again!" _General Pepper barked, trying (and failing) to keep composure. "_Corneria city is under attack! Remains of Andross's forces have breached our planetary defenses and had launched a full-scale attack on the city! Please, Star Fox, you are our only hope!" _

Andrew?! Again?!...That ignorant ape was really starting to get on my nerves

"We're on our way, General!" I gave a quick salute. "ROB Bring the Great Fox into standard orbit, Falco, Kyrstal, Slippy you're with me!" I ordered as we turned and started running to the hangar. "Miyu, Fay! I want you two in the hanger ready to launch an intercept if the apes try something."

"Aye aye, sir!"

* * *

Things were a mess above the blue planet. I could see the explosions going off in the atmosphere. I grimaced as I climbed into my cockpit, strapping myself in and flipping switches to turn the ship on. My Arwing shook as its systems turned on. I peered to my left and saw my three squadmates preparing their ships.

"Everyone ready?" I pushed a button on the main console and brought up communications before grabbing both control sticks tightly.

"_Always." _Falco responded first in his usual tone.

"_Ready, Fox!" _Slippy eagerly said next.

"_Ready." _Last to respond was Krystal.

"Alright, let's do this!" "I ordered and launched the ships. We were quickly ejected from the hangar and into space, making a quick approach to the planet. "Miyu, Fay, ROB, stay with the Great Fox and give us some heavy support!"

"_Aye aye, Sir!"_ Fay responded, sounding as eager as a rookie would. Hopefully, she could handle this mission…

I swallowed and braced myself as we entered the atmosphere like burning comets...

* * *

Flying over one of the vast oceans of the planet, I could see the explosions and war in the distance. I hope we weren't _too _late.

"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" I barked, quickly scanning the skies for any bogeys. Once I knew we were clear, I continued. "Falco, Krystal, Slippy. On my wing! We'll deal with their fighters!"

"_Roger that, on your wing,"_ Falco responded as he _and _Krystal followed closely behind on either wing. Surprised he didn't have any cocky jabs today.

"Miyu, Fay, continue covering us!"

"_You can count on us, Fox!" _Fay was eager as always.

"Let's go, guys! Good luck!" I pushed on my control sticks, speeding up significantly. I stayed high, flying through the clouds, the sounds of distant warfare getting closer and closer to us. Within a few moments, we flew close to the coastlines of Corneria City. We didn't even reach land before a small swarm of drones engaged us. Damn it! I locked on to a few of them and used my thumbs to push the buttons on the top of my flight stick. Quick bolts of burning green plasma fired off from the front of my ship, making contact with the flying robots; which quickly exploded. Falco, Slippy and Krystal unleashed volleys of shots at the drones, systematically destroying them one by one. I maneuvered and dodged most of their shots, though the occasional bolt did graze my hull. Nothing the shields couldn't handle. With a barrage of lasers and careful flying, we pushed through the swarm of drones and into the city outskirts; a grassy highland.

Above the city was a fleet battle, Andrew's fleet outnumbering the Cornerian Defence Force's three-to-one. Damn it! _If only the politicians knew what they were doing, we wouldn't have this mess on our paws! _I grumbled slightly as I shot at incoming fighters.

"_Ground invasion force at twelve-o'clock. They're heading for the southern city entrance!" _Krystal quickly barked, flying low to the ground. Falco and I followed down, flying about forty feet off the ground. I quickly spotted landing craft dropping Andrew's' monkey soldiers and tanks off.

"Targets confirmed, aim for the landing crafts! Open fire!" I charged my plasma beam, held it for a second or two and let go, unleashing a single large bolt of plasma into the hull of the landing craft; which promptly exploded, taking out a considerable amount of the ground forces with it. "Main targets neutralised, pick off any stragglers." I targeted their tanks, destroying them swiftly before moving onward to the city.

* * *

The once pristine and chrome cityscape was now a mess, smoke rose from several buildings and fighters scrambled above. This was gonna be quite the cleanup op…The Grand Fox was now in position, excellent!

"Alright, everyone! All-Range mode!" With the press of a button, my ship configured itself, trading high speed for high mobility. "Grand Fox, engage their frigates, we'll handle their fighters and guns!, Slippy-!"

Suddenly, the communications screen flashed red, warning of an intercepted transmission. A familiar voice hijacked my coms!

"_Can't let you do that, Star Fox!" _The familiar voice taunted cruelly. _Wolf._

From seemingly nowhere, a Wolfen flew overhead an unleashed a few shots at one of the Arwings on my wing.

"_Mayday, mayday! I've been hit! I'm going doooooooooooown-!" _Slippy's voice cried throughout my cockpit. His ship fell from the sky, a pillar of smoke coming from its engine, crashing toward the Corneria Military Tower.

"Slip?! _Slip?!_ Respond!" I cried out in panic, following the smoke trail with my eyes. _Please be ok…_

"_Oof-! I'm ok! Go on without me! I'll guard the general!" _His light voice responded, causing all the panic in me to disappear! Thank goodness he was alright...after sighing in relief, I scowled and began to pursue Wolf. He was _not _getting away with shooting 'Slip down!

"_How embarrassing, Fox, even he lasts a bit longer than that!"_

"What's the matter, O'Donnell? Left all your skill at home and had to ambush?" I spat at Wolf, tracking his Wolfen and began my pursuit, firing a few shots at him, hitting his shields. "Or is your depth perception starting to catch up with you?"

"_Very funny, Fox. I'll enjoy shooting you down with my one eye. That'd be funny." _

"In your dreams." I finished by cutting him out of the transmission. "Star Fox! Continue your mission, Falco Krystal, get rid of Panther, I'll handle Wolf!"

"_Roger Roger, Flyboy," _Krystal responded, her Arwing leaving my wing, attacking a nearby drop ship.

"_On it!" _last was Falco, doing a stylish spin away from my wing. _Show off…_

I unleashed jets of plasma towards the Wolfen directly in front of me. Wolf did a barrel roll out of the way, spinning his ship around to face me, but engaging us in some weird game of midair chicken above the city. He came at me shooting bolts of plasma, a few grazing my ship. I licked my lips and set my shields to max power. I quickly tilted my ship, bashing his Wolfen with my wing, sending Wolf spinning out of control. Hopefully into a mountain or something.

"_Gah...you're good!" _Wolf scoffed over comms, followed by my ship shaking, my shields sustaining critical damage! Red lights flashed in my cockpit as I gained control. The hell did he do?! "_But I'm better! Like the new torpedoes, McCloud?"_

"I see you've got some new _toys, _Wolf," I smirked. "_unlucky for you, so do I!" _

With the quick push of a button, I launched a bright red bomb straight at Wolf. I heard him gasp slightly, trying to maneuver his ship out of the way. The Smart Bomb made direct contact with his left set of wings, completely obliterating them. Bullseye! He spun out of control, his Wolfen struggling to keep altitude.

"_You bastard, Fox! Those toys aren't new! And I just had this painted!" _Wolf shouted angrily. I winced at how _loud_ he was. "_You'll pay for that!" _and with that, Wolf ejected from the crashing Wolfen, his chair sprouting a parachute. I'd shoot him down if it wasn't a war crime. I smirked and flew by him as fast as I could, sending his chair flying away at high speed. I could hear him scream as he was launched away. Fox one, Wolf zero! The remains of his Wolfen crashed into a nearby forest. That was easier than usual!

"Wolf down. Repeat, Wolf is Down! How is everyone doing?"

"_Panther is giving me some hassle, but I can handle it," _Falco explained casually.

"_We need some covering fire for the Grand Fox, we have bombers on our tail!" _

"Hang on, Peppy, I'll help you!"

"_Thanks, Fox! You're sounding just like James!" _

I smiled...it always felt good to be compared to _Dad…_

"_Come in Star Fox! Can you hear me?" _A light voice suddenly sounded. Slippy! I'm glad he was alright.

"Loud and clear, 'Slip! Report?"

"_Unidentified FTL entities are appearing over the planet!" _His voice was panicked. What?!

"More of Andrew's goons?!"

"_We don't know! We've never seen these kinds of ships before, they're huge!" _

I quickly looked up, seeing a fleet of steel grey ships and dark brown ships in the high atmosphere, exchanging lasers.

Suddenly, a strange symbol appeared on my communications screen. It was a bright cyan and was shaped like a very thick letter T. _Who were these guys? _I pressed a button to answer their message. On my screen was being of indeterminate species wearing a grey suit of power armor, their visor the same shape and color as their symbol.

"_This is the G.F.S Rendezvous. Our intentions are peaceful. However, our war with the Space Pirates have led us here. We advise to evacuate your citizens immediately." _

G.F.S?! Space Pirates?! Who were these guys?! How were they speaking the same language as us?!

"This is Fox McCloud of Star Fox, what's going on? We're actually defending our planet from invasion down here…"

"_What?" _The marine seemed confused, turning to someone offscreen. "_Admiral, what should we do?"_

"_Space Pirate forces are retreating into the planet, sir!" _another panicked voice called.

"_Send a detachment of fighters and troops down. Star Fox, was it? How will we determine your troops from your enemy?" _the deep voice of their admiral asked me.

"Uh, we're mostly canine? We wear grey uniforms, I'll forward you to the general...he'll help you…"

This was gonna be a mess...hopefully these guys could help us secure Corneria…

"_What the heck is going on?!" _Falco questioned. "_Who are these federation guys?!"_

"_I wish we knew, Falco…" _Slippy sighed.

"_Impossible, how is...Be advised, Ridley has just joined the battle, repeat, Ridley has joined this battle." _The Federation marine gasped.

_Ridley? What was a—_

All of a sudden, a huge mechanical dragon flew overhead at frightening speed, swatting Panther's wolfen and a few other ships out of the sky with ease. _What the heck was that?! _Regardless, it looked _much _meaner than anything Andrew had to throw at us

"Star Fox! Pursue that dragon!"

"_Star Wolf is retreating!" _Krystal exclaimed and joined my wing.

"_Typical, leaving the hard work for us!" _Falco scoffed and joined me.

We opened fire on 'Ridley,' our shots scorching its metal body. It looked behind to us, its pterodactyl-like head turned at an almost impossible angle. It screeched at us, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. This was going to be a nightmare, wasn't it? From its throat, it unleashed a volley of fireballs at us. What the?! We narrowly avoided it, the balls of flame hitting a nearby skyscraper, shattering the windows and causing fires. _What was this beast?! _It grew weary of our attacks, avoiding them with relative ease by maneuvering its body in strange ways. The beast quickly turned a full 180 degrees on a dime and came straight for us! Krystal and Falco got out of the way, but I wasn't so lucky…_My shields were already down…_

It grabbed my Arwing, staring at me with glowing yellow eyes. I desperately pushed on the flight sticks, but its grip was far too strong. It roared and ripped a wing off, throwing it away. _No! _Before it could kill me, I ejected, the cockpit window hitting Ridley in the face, causing it to drop my poor ship. I sprang up and latched onto the dragon's neck, unholstering my blaster and shooting its throat a few times, stunning it. I jump off and began free falling above the city. But suddenly, I landed on a ship that caught me! My boots magnetized and latched onto the ship. Its hull was bright orange and had a green window at its front. It was a very round ship and was large, a gunship, probably. Whatever it was, _I was grateful for the catch. _Something about this ship triggered Ridley, causing it to roar loudly and begin a pursuit.

I also noted that all of Andross' forces were pulling out, replaced by Federation and Space Pirate ships.

I shot at Ridley a few times with my blaster, however, he shrugged the lasers off like they were nothing. Darn…the ship I was on weaved in and out between buildings. I also spotted Falco and Krystal continuing their pursuit, firing at Ridley.

"_Is that a meteor?!" _Slippy cried out suddenly. Lo and behold, there was some sort of meteor in space approaching the planet..._what the heck was going on?! _The gunship flew near the military building, rear turrets firing at Ridley as Krystal and Falco fired at his back. Something about this ship was really making the Dragon mad…

As if things couldn't get much worse, a strange silhouette on a building shot some kind of blue beam at Falco, penetrating the nose of the ship with ease, causing him to crash into the hills! _Falco! _I shot at the shadow, but it simply flew away, following Falco_...god damnit!_

Before I could even comprehend what happened, I felt a hand quickly grab my coat from behind, picking me off the ground completely and jumping off of the ship, landing in front of the military tower. I was quickly put down and whatever picked me up ran in front of me and opened fire with a strange arm cannon. The being stood a full foot above me, wearing a bright orange and red power suit with sizable round shoulders. It looked at me for a moment, revealing a bright green visor that was completely opaque. What was this thing?!

Krystal quickly landed and jumped out of her cockpit, joining me as Ridley landed in front of all three of us, roaring. Ridley charged at us, swinging a claw Krystal and I dived out of the way, but our new ally jumped high up, shooting beams of hot plasma from its arm cannon. I stared at my fox comrade and raised a brow. She simply stared at the orange soldier in awe for a moment, before looking to me and nodding, charging Ridley with her blaster. I followed suit.

The dragon noticed us and swatted Krystal away with its tail, leaving it open for me. I jumped up on its back, climbing it, trying to reach its head. The orange soldier somehow was still midair, continuously somersaulting with an electric aura around him, occasionally breaking it to fire at Ridley. Ridley thrashed and tried shaking me off, but I held on tightly.

"Fox, catch!" Krystal shouted and tossed a grenade my way, which I quickly caught. _This could be useful. _I quickly stuck it to Ridley's back and jumped off, the resulting explosion knocking the mecha dragon down. While down, our new friend forced Ridley's mouth open, charging a beam firing directly into his throat. _Good Lord…_ Ridley screeched in agony as plasma seeped from its mouth. With one last roar, it noticed all the cornerian and federation soldiers closing in on it. And with that, it retreated by flying away. Good riddance!

"_Orbital defenses?!" _the orange soldier demanded in a surprisingly high pitched tone at me. I blurted out a confused noise in response. They growled lowly. "_Do you have any?!"_

"N-no…? They were outlawed years ago-who are you anyway, why do we need them-?!"

"That Leviathan in the sky will destroy the planet if we don't do something." one of the Federation Marines responded, his blue visor flashing with each word.

"T-the entire planet?! Krystal gasped, looking at the soldiers, the Leviathan and then the tower. "There has to be _something_ we can do!"

I opened a communication channel with the Grand Fox.

"Miyu, Fay! Drop what you're doing, I want all guns on that meteor!"

"_On it commander!" _Miyu quickly responded.

"Slippy will know what to do C'mon, into the tower everyone..." I looked at the behemoth of a meteor. It didn't even enter the atmosphere and it still looked so big...this was bad...

* * *

We exited an elevator into the main control room of the military tower, military tacticians and soldiers scrambled on the emergency transmissions, frantically issuing evacuation commands. Good lord this was _horrible… _

Standing in front of a circular table that displayed Planet Corneria with the hastily encroaching meteor was Slippy and General Pepper, who quickly noticed us and ran over. Both had looks of panic on their faces.

"Fox?! What is that...that..._thing_ in the sky?!" The general panted, his droopy eyes darting from me to the hologram.

"Some sort of giant meteor, the Federation say it could-" I barely choked out before getting cut off by our new friend.

"It's a _highly _radioactive vessel of a biohazard, Phazon. If the impact doesn't wipe this planet off the star charts, then the radiation surely _will_." The giant, orange-clad soldier coldly explained, her voice oozing with malice. "Since you don't have any orbital defences, does your planet have _any _method of getting rid of something that big?! If not, we will have to completely evacuate this planet, it's _beyond _doomed without the right defences."

Pepper made a low guttural noise and punched the table, shaking his head.

"How long until impact…?" the bloodhound muttered.

"Approximately an hour, sir!" Slippy gulped as he typed things into a datapad and bit his lip. His eyes quickly scanned what he typed. "However, I think I have a plan…"

"And that is?" The orange warrior sternly asked.

"I think a blast of outstanding magnitude could vapourize the meteor!" Slippy explained as he ran over to the communication screen, hastily typing contacting the Grand Fox. "And I think I might know how to initiate a blast that big, fast! Miyu, Fay, Peppy? Do you copy?"

"_Loud and Clear, Slippy!" _ Fay responded, somehow as cheery as she usually was. "_What do you need us to do?"_

"How many Smart Bombs are we carrying onboard?"

"_About...one-hundred and eleven, how so?" _

Slippy flashed a half smirk.

"I need you guys to tie all of those together into one… 'Super Smart Bomb!' Once you have that, launch it at the meteor!" The toad enthusiastically ordered. This was insane, but it _could _work.

"_Hopefully we don't knock the planet out of orbit," _Miyu sniggered.

"_It's worth a shot…"_ Peppy mumbled. "_Alright, girls, to the cargo hold!"_

I shot a worried glance to Krystal, who seemed equally as worried. She approached me and placed a single hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Our eyes met and we nodded, turning our attention to the planetary display. There was nothing we could do but wait. The mysterious soldier joined us at the table, looking down at us from behind her bright green visor.

"My name is Samus Aran, by the way," She bluntly spoke, her voice devoid of most emotion. "Just in case we get obliterated."

"F-Fox, Fox McCloud," I gulped. If we did get obliterated today, at least I was with Krystal...and Slippy. "It's uh...nice to meet you...Samus."

As the others introduced themselves to Samus, a horrid feeling began welling up in my stomach..._was Falco alright…? _I desperately tried contacting him with my communicator...

* * *

**Falco Lombadi **

Ugh...my head...vision slowly returned to me, the stench of smoke penetrating my nostrils. I quickly inspected myself; thankfully there was no blood or anything... I checked my clock, was out for about an hour...damn it. I saw the city in the distance through my cockpit window. Most of the enemy ships were gone, replaced with our Federation friends' ships, though that huge meteor was still in the sky. My ship was crashed into a grassy hillside, debris lied in the dirt, scratching and burning the ground. I must've been quite a lucky bird to walk this one off... I undid my seatbelt and readied to pop the cockpit window..._but that's when I noticed something watching me._ It appeared to be the same species as our new buddies...but something was just..._wrong _about it...The black armor it wore didn't seem that mechanical...it looked..._organic..._Its body was highlighted by glowing spots of piercing cyan light, most striking was its Y shaped visor…What the _fuck _was that thing?!

As if it could sense my consciousness, it slid across the ground slowly. Upon closer inspection, the armor was covered in veins...It 'stood' by my cockpit, staring at me with interest, tilting its head at me and tracing my figure on the window with a very sharp and pointy finger. It was scratching the glass. I wasn't willing to continue being something for this _thing _to ogle at, so I made a very slow and subtle movement, grabbing my blaster with one hand and reaching for the cockpit release mechanism, staring directly at its blue visor.

"What are you supposed to be…?" I asked it slowly, narrowing my eyes. It didn't bother to respond, instead, it let out a low, distorted chuckle. It didn't seem aggressive, but I wouldn't trust it in a _billion _years. The cockpit opened with a hiss, allowing me to stand up slowly, not breaking vision with this alien."So uh, you just gonna stare at me like that?"

It just floated there, ominously, studying me. Feeling majorly creeped out, I started walking to the city, but I was stopped by a voice over comms,

"_Falco? Is that you? We heard your voice, are you ok?"_

"Loud and clear, 'Slip I'm alright, just had a bit of a bumpy landing, that's all. I'll be making my way to where you are."

"_No need." _Krystal piped up, "_Samus says she'll pick you up."_

"Samus, eh? That the owner of that orange gunship?" As soon as the word "Samus" left my beak, my creepy buddy seemed to snap, pointing a disturbing arm cannon at me, growling and breathing heavily. Well, if that's the way it's gonna be... "I don't take kindly to threats, y'know! Hold on 'Slip, I'll be right-WOAH!"

I dived out of a blast of searing blue light that was aimed for my head. Within an instant, I unholstered my blaster and shot at this thing, which just sidestepped my shot with ease. It hovered off the ground, a blue fire where its feet were, burning the grass below it. Instead of running or walking, this thing just slid across the ground, trailing its fire behind it. He lunged at me, I tried countering this by kicking it back, my boot making quick contact with his abdomen, however, this didn't seem to phase him, instead, it almost shattered my armored boot completely. He grabbed my right ankle and lifted me with relative ease and pointed his cannon at me. Within a split second, I kicked my boot off completely and shot this guy square in the face, sending him stumbling back and dropping my boot. I hopped back and shot a few more times.

This creature quickly faced me removing his hand from his steaming visor. Within an instant, it was up in my face, quickly grabbing my pistol and ripping it out of my hand, accompanied by my entire arm cracking and dislocating from how hard it snatched my gun. I shrieked in pain and grasped my right shoulder as he crushed my blaster like it was nothing. Wincing, I dodged another few blasts of its cannon, though my right leg was hit, burning away a portion of my jumpsuit and revealing more of my already exposed talon. _This was bad…_I took off my jacket and threw it aside, (I didn't want to see it burned…) If I couldn't fight this thing, I'd wait for backup...I ducked behind the wreckage of my ship, taking cover from whatever this guy had to offer...I tried doing something with my dislocated arm, but I never had enough time before this jackass jumped me…

Within just a few minutes of fighting, half of my jumpsuit was practically burned away and I had sustained a shot to my right shoulder..._burned like hell and made a pretty nasty bald spot..._I fell to a knee, this beast looming over me, the lights on its body beginning to glow immensely. This wasn't it, _was it? _As if life moved in slow motion, It shot a large beam of its concentrated radiation at me, the killing blow...With one last desperate attempt, I activated the prototype reflector Slippy had given us. A bright blue hexagonal shield surrounded by body, making contact with the beam, reflecting it back at my attacker and completely destroying the emitter. The dark being gasped and tried dodging, but was hit by their own beam, letting out a loud, distorted, yet...oddly feminine screech and exploded into several blue particles that scattered...did I just...kill it…?

I let out a half amused chuckle as everything began to spin. As long as it died first, I was happy. Vision began fading as the burning from its radiation and the pain of my right arm became too much to bare...I passed out as the meteor in the sky suddenly exploded and disintegrated, along with the space pirate fleet pulling out..._at least we saved Corneria..._I fell on my stomach as everything went dark_..._

* * *

"_He's waking up. Condition is still stable."_

My eyes fluttered open, staring up at a steel ceiling. Looming over me were two Federation Doctors. I finally could get a good look at what species they were. They were mostly hairless, save from some on their heads and brow. Guess these guys picked me up.

"Easy there, Mr. Lombardi...you sustained a broken arm and second-degree burns to your shoulder there, don't put any stress on it." a female doctor gently said, pressing a button that made the bed sit upright.

"Ugh...how long was I out? Where am I?" I peered around the room, seeing injured Federation Marines and cornerian soldiers alike being treated for injuries. "...and how do you know my name?"

"Approximately a day, you're in the G.F.S Rendezvous' infirmary, and we read the name badge on your jacket." She responded and activated a communicator on her wrist. "Mr. Lombardi is awake now, should we send him to you, Admiral?"

"_Is he in any position to walk or stand?"_

Throwing the covers off myself, I hopped off the bed, my legs wobbling for a bit, but I could stand. I looked down and saw that I was wearing a medical gown. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw my naked back through an opening on the gown. Great...I lowered my tail, just so no one would see anything they didn't want to.

"You wouldn't have my clothes, would you?"

"They had to be destroyed, due to Phazon radiation. We apologize," as she spoke, my heart sunk. "Though your jacket was unharmed, your friend is holding onto it for now. Our Admiral and your General wish to speak with you and your team. A marine will take you to the briefing room." thank goodness…_my jacket was ok…_

* * *

The halls of the Rendezvous were cold, sterile and not as homey as the Grand Fox. Federation Marines spoke with Cornerian Soldiers about what had transpired yesterday. I could see Corneria through the windows of the ship, as well as a huge defense fleet. I even saw the Grand Fox parked next to this ship.

The medical bay wasn't that far away from the bridge apparently, as we entered a large forward facing room full of controls and crew. Nobody really batted an eye at me through my little journey through the ship...which is good, I don't want to imagine people trying to peek at my rear. Stopping at a door, my escort turned to me slowly.

"Proceed through here. The briefing room is at the end of the hallway."

I nodded and thanked him, walking into a narrow hall with one door at the end. I just noticed how cold the floor was on my bare talons...

I entered the briefing room slowly. It was circular and was as sterile as the rest of the ship. A raised platform was in the center of the room, displaying a hologram of the Lylat System. In front of the hologram were General Pepper and the Admiral of this ship clad in a strange green uniform. They both turned to look at me, as did everyone else in the room. I felt a soft hand get placed on my shoulder, it was Fox, staring at me with a worried expression. Before he could even speak, I interrupted him.

"I'm fine, I've had worse...and I'm not dying until you buy me that drink, McCloud," I gave him a half smirk. He didn't laugh/grimace or anything...this must've been serious. Standing behind him was the rest of my team, who had expressions ranging from worry to relief. I took my place with the rest of them. Slippy and Fay hugged me when I got close. Was I close to death or something…? I shuddered slightly and hugged the toad and spaniel back. "So...why do you all need me?"

"One reason…" Krystal grimaced. "Your attacker used some kind of radioactive weapon, the same chemical found in that meteor...phazum, was it?"

"Phazon, " someone new entered the room. Judging by the voice, it was a woman..._keyword being voice. _When she entered the room, my heart sunk...was that…? No...that wasn't my attacker…her suit was orange and red and looked mechanical...not organic. That must have been Samus, then...I didn't speak up, instead, I let her continue. "Highly radioactive and weaponizable. We destroyed its homeworld, Phaaze just a few years ago. How a leviathan survived was another question...and none of the ground forces we saw used Phazon based weaponry. You were the only one attacked by Phazon weaponry."

"Falco...who attacked you?" Fox gulped. Every eye in the room was on me. Usually, I liked this…but this was different. Their eyes were full of worry and anxiety. I gulped and gazed over to Samus, who, despite wearing a visor, stared at me with a piercing look.

"It looked like you, Samus...but, dark, organic..._corrupted_...it hovered above the ground like nothing I've seen before…"

The room fell even more silent. The Federation marines and crew stated at me with awe, while everyone else was confused.

Samus' hand clenched into a tight fist.

"_Dark Samus...she survived Phaaze…"_

_Dark Samus…?_

* * *

_**End of Chapter...**_


	2. Chapter 1: Meteo Advancement

AN:

* * *

**Chapter 1: Meteo Advancement**

**Fox McCloud **

"Alright, gentlemen," the human admiral began, stroking his graying beard as he observed a holographic display of the Lylat System, the Meteo asteroid field displayed in red as opposed to the blue of the rest of the system. "it appears our 'friends' have retreated into this asteroid belt."

"Both the Space Pirates and the Venom Remnant have pulled back into here. The Remnant is likely pulling back to their staging area; the planet we've determined to be Aquas." General Pepper continued, pointing out the aquatic planet. "That's our destination. However, eliminating or capturing any retreating forces could make this war _that_ bit easier. Admiral Cooke and I have decided that deploying a squadron of fighters would be the most effective way to take them out." The bloodhound turned to my crew and me.

"Up for navigating Meteo again, Star Fox?"

"Always, General!" I nodded with a smile, casually reclining in the briefing room chair.

"_Great, _fun in the asteroid belt, " Falco scoffed from the chair beside mine, proudly wearing his new orange flight suit with one leg tucked over the other. His once broken arm had a strange brace around it that appeared to be pumping some kind of medical gel into his damaged arm. Must be highly advanced federation technology, because Falco could move his arm like it wasn't broken two days ago. "What's not to love? Not like I've almost died once recently."

"Quit complainin', Falco," Miyu whispered from between our shoulders. "I saw how you flew through the simulations. You're just complaining for the _sake _of complaining at this point!" The lynx's comment garnered a chuckle from the spaniel sitting next to her. I liked her attitude, we need someone to outweigh Falco's cockiness. Falco simply scoffed and looked forward, resting both hands behind his head, purposely blocking the lynx's view with his hotshot behavior.

"Alright, I suggest we put the fighters up front and clear the way, our frigates and battleships can't worry about the asteroids and the enemy at the same time." I stood up and walked over to the hologram table, arranging the displays of our fighters in front of larger vessels in an upside-down V formation. "If we stay in formation like this, we should be able to clear a path for the fleet. Any objections?"

Everyone in the briefing room chattered amongst themselves for a short moment before looking forward at the Admiral, General and me.

"I should lead the formation. My gunship has more than enough firepower to clear out any larger asteroids or enemy ships that get in our way." Samus, who stood at the back with her arms folded and stayed rigid and quiet throughout the whole briefing finally spoke up. Talk about a woman of few words...

"More firepower than a Smart Bomb?" Falco smirked at Samus as she walked past. She slowed down and looked at him, staring at him from behind her always permanently opaque green visor.

"Yes." She bluntly stated and began walking out of the room, likely for the hangars. Was there not a shred of emotion or humour in her…?"

"Alright, everyone. We have a plan," The admiral spoke up. "Get to your fighters and clear the way!"

"_Sir yes Sir!" _The federation pilots all responded in unison, jumping out of their chairs and making their way to the hanger, leaving just the rest of Star Fox and what few Cornerian pilots we had. Cooke and Pepper just stared at the hologram and spoke amongst themselves about tactics. I joined the rest of my team, who were just standing up and stretching.

"That's the first time in a while someone _hasn't _responded to my trademark wit," Falco audibly complained to Krystal, who seemed more interested in playing with her hair. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, tapping his foot on the steel ground below. "I've seen stoic, but Samus is a _whole _different creature…"

"An unstoppable force vs an immovable object, everything has its counterbalance," The team engineer pondered, placing his cap upon his head. "I suppose it's up to interpretation who's unstoppable or immovable in this scenario at least." Wow.

"Since when did you become so philosophical, 'Slip?" I chuckled and joined my friends, holding my hips. Krystal not-so-subtly gravitated towards me, a teasing smirk on her muzzle. Typical Krystal. All of us started following the rest of the humans to the hangars.

"Look, spend enough time reading engineering books makes you want to broaden your horizons a bit." the toad shrugged casually as we made our way down the sterile hallways of the Rendezvous.

"Hey, boss, " Miyu suddenly joined my side, sounding eager to speak about something. "Fara sent just three replacement Arwings fresh off the presses for you, Slippy and Falco. Let's just say she was _not _happy she had to _start _said presses for you three. Even gave us a little letter with 'em."

"Try not to crash these ones,' Fay finished Miyu's point with a giggle. "She probably won't be so charitable next time!"

"I'm surprised she didn't charge us a fortune in the first place," I grinned as we all entered an elevator, staring at our distant blue homeworld through a window. A few asteroid drifted passed the Rendezvous' windows, signalling that we were entering the Meteo asteroid belt. Was probably best to make it out to our ships quickly before things got messy. "I'll make sure not to crash this time."

"Mainly because you can't breath in space?" Krystal shot a smirk at me and walked ahead at a brisk pace. "Who am I supposed to tease if you die?"

"I'm sure Falco will appreciate your teasing!" I shouted after her, eliciting a chuckle from the rest of my teammates...apart from Peppy, who just groaned. Never was one for excessive snark...Don't blame him, putting up and managing _us _must be pretty stressful, heh.

"Nah, I've got to many girls squabbling over me," Falco shrugged nonchalantly with a grunt. "Don't want any girls killin' each other over me...my poor feathery heart couldn't take it!"

"_Probablyjustpityteasing!" _I coughed.

"What?" The bird glared at me.

"What?" I gave him a look of innocence. "I just coughed!"

"I'm watching you, Foxboy." Falco hissed while pointing to his eyes with two fingers then one at me as he walked by, squinting at me all the while. Hopefully he crashes into an asteroid while he's 'watching' me, that'll show him...then again...Fara would _not _be happy if we destroyed another Arwing, so I guess I _should _look after Birdbrain...ugh…

After a brief and silent walk through the Rendezvous, we eventually reached the primary hangar bay where fighters were just beginning to take off. Landed in their own section of the hanger were our Arwings, three notably more pristine and shiny than the other four. I let out a pleased whistle as I inspected one. Not everyday you saw an Arwing with her bright blue and white paint job. I opened my cockpit as Falco, Slippy and Krystal's ships flew out the main entrance of the hangar bay. As I climbed in, Peppy stood to the side of my ship and smiled.

"Looks like we're doin' this old dance again, eh Fox?" the hare chuckled and shook his head. "When's the last time this darn system was safe? Looks like you're always hoppin' in one of those bucket-of-bolts and shooting off!"

"Hey, it's what Dad would've wanted," I said with a smirk. "Can't argue with him on that."

"Heh, every day you're becoming more and more like James!" Peppy chortled happily. "I swear you're gonna start wearing sunglasses one of these days."

"Only when I become a dad, 'Pep!"

"Hah! Just make sure I'm their godfather," my close friend chuckled and adjusted his glasses with a big smile. "You get those bastards good, Fox!"

"I will, Peppy, you save me a cold drink or two!" I gave him a thumbs up as my cockpit lowered. "And don't worry, I'll make sure!"

And with that, I took off, as did Miyu and Fay. We left the hangars into the cold vacuum of space.

I saw all of Star Fox's and the Galactic Federation fighters getting into formation at blasting away any asteroids that got close. Better not keep them waiting for long. I increased my forward throttle and approached them. Wow, upon closer examination, it was Samus' gunship that was clearing most of the way, that thing was armed to the goddamn _teeth _with weaponry. Talk about a one ship fleet, it's like she didn't specifically _need _us...then again, I doubt it had the starship fighting capabilities of these fighters, so I made sure to cover her if fighters engage us. As if on cue, I got an incoming transmission from the human huntress of few words.

"_Fox. " _Her voice was as striking as every other time I've heard it. "_I want you on my left wing. Your team, mainly your girlfriend and engineer friend said you were best, behind the falcon."_

I blushed as she uttered the word 'Girlfriend."

"_I have a name you know, just remove the 'n' from the end of 'Falcon,' simple, Sam." _Falco remarked...well, butted in as he usually would _ad nauseum_.

"_I take it that hypocrisy was intentional." _Samus bluntly spoke. "_How do you put up with this one?"_

"I don't, I just cry myself to sleep because of him." I 'weepily' responded, surprisingly, I heard the bounty huntress let out a subtle chuckle.

"_You have my sympathy, Fox." _

After a brief moment of silence, I formed up on the left of Samus' gunship, watching intently as it annihilated every asteroid that got in its way with volleys of rockets and lasers. The firepower of that thing was just..._wow…almost _makes a fox drool!

"_Why are these asteroids so densely packed together?" _Samus asked, a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment in her voice. "_I can only assume that a planet was destroyed here at some point."_

"_You're in a star system with fifteen habitable planets and two stars, one of which orbits the other like a planet, this ain't a normal star system, I'll tell you that." _Falco chuckled in a usual Falco tone.

"_I remember I saw this star system as a strange one when Fox introduced me~" _Krystal giggled and joined my wing. I looked over to her. She saw me and waved from her cockpit and winked. I waved back in response and gave her a thumbs up. She giggled again and continued speaking. "_The strangeness of this system will grow on you, I promise."_

"_..."_ Samus was quiet for a moment. "_Point taken. But we can sightsee later, now, we need to push through this cluster_." she was right. No time to waste. We had to carry on.

"_Guys, am I in formation right?" _Fay meekly asked, a hint of bashfulness in our spaniel recruit's voice. This was the poor girl's first proper mission…

"_Lookin' good to me, Fay," _Miyu responded before I could.

"_Enough chatter, everyone, we've got incoming bogies, 5 o'clock_ _high!" _Samus hissed loudly. I braced myself.

Appearing from behind a dense field of asteroids to our rear was a few large squadrons of drones and fighters, damnit! Ambush! We all broke formation to engage the incoming hostiles. As soon as I properly turned around, we were greeted to barrages of incoming plasma fire. I made a sharp maneuver behind an asteroid to avoid them. I scowled as I tracked the enemies on my radar, my thumb hovering over my flightstick trigger.

"_For a retreating force, this is a pretty ballsy maneuver on their part_!" Falco scoffed, his mark on the radar flying directly into a cluster of enemies, which was subsequently followed by a majority of the cluster disappearing. Mad bastard, he's gonna get himself killed one of these days. "_Andrew is really learning big boy guerrilla tactics, huh? It only took like, two proper invasions!"_

"Let's not give him too much credit here," I barked as I started pursuing an enemy fighter_. _"Attacking from behind is a basic maneuver, let's see if his forces know how to _win _an ambush!"

With a quick few bursts of my primary cannons, I downed the fighter rather easily, its remains spiralling into a nearby asteroid. Gotcha! I assessed the battle closely. We already lost a few fighters, damnit! I also noticed Samus' gunship flying around, avoiding the fire of three fighters that were on her tail. She needed help! As I flew, I couldn't help but listen in on the comms.

"_I-I need backup!"_

"_Don't worry Fay, I gotcha!"_

"_T-Thanks, Miyu," _The spaniel sighed, fear and stress obvious in her voice. "_That was a close one…"_

"_They're everywhere!" _Slippy cried, following Krystal's lead closely. "_Using drones is just plain dirty if ya ask me!"_

"_I knew I shouldn't have left Cerinia," _Krystal sighed. "_If I get shot down, I'm blaming you, Fox."_

If I weren't in such a stressful situation, I might have responded. I quickly closed the distance between Samus and myself, quickly offing the first enemy on her tail with a fully charged shot. As If the other bogies knew who I was, they quickly flew away from us. Good riddance. I quickly joined Samus's wing and opened up comms with her.

"You doin' OK samus?"

"_Thanks, Fox, I appreciate it," _Her usual stoic voice had actual emotion in it for once, gratitude. "_I forgot how much I hate dogfighting."_

"Well, I'll cover you for now, those fighters could tear through your shields in numbers."

"_Fox," _Slippy quickly spoke up, catching my attention almost immediately. "_I've analysed their attack patterns, and I think they've parked a carrier or base somewhere in the asteroid field, just to push the frontline forward! If we don't deal with that now-_"

"_They'll come from the rear and bite us in the ass." _My falcon friend finished Slippy's conclusion.

"_Exactly, Falco, I've pinpointed the rough area of where the base is. We should strike fast and hard, before they have enough time to react!" _The toad engineer exclaimed with a subtle confidence. "_Transmitting coordinates now!"_

My ship's HUD pointed about seven o'clock low. Bingo.

"_Alright, cover me. My gunship can destroy the base with a series of bombing runs, but once they realise what I'm doing, practically every gun in the belt will be on me."_

"You heard her, guys," I smiled as we all started flying to Slippy's coordinates, "Cover her!" After a brief push through the asteroids with minimal casualties, we saw a small fleet of frigates all guarding a battle carrier. Bingo, base confirmed. "Ambush fleet confirmed! Concentrate all fire on the fighters and stay out of range of the point defense weapons!"

Not soon after I issued the order, a wave of several squadrons flew to intercept us. Cracking my neck, I unleashed a few shots into the enemy formations, taking a few of the outdated fighters out. Our squadrons, while smaller, had better tech. That was our main advantage! Our airforces met, engaging in a chaotic dogfight. I stayed close on Samus' wing to protect her from any interceptors, as did Falco.

"_Darn, they're everywhere!" _Slippy complained, narrowly avoiding enemy fire. "_Where are they building all of these?!"_

"_Where they always do, Slippy, " _Falco scoffed. "_Macbeth. That's always their first target."_

"_I-It was rhetorical, Falco…"_

"_Sounds like a perfect target to me." _Miyu chuckled.

Once we cut a considerable hole through their defences, we got a clear-ish shot of their carrier.

"_Starting my bombing run," _ Samus told us as she started flying towards the carrier, the forward pointing wings of her ship opening to reveal the primary cannons. "_Draw the fire of their point defence weapons for me, take them out if possible."_

I flew close to the portside surface of the carrier, opening fire upon any turrets or cannons I saw while narrowly avoiding incoming shots. The red carrier shook and thrashed violently as a volley of bombs exploded on its right broadside, taking out a hangar or two in the process. I needed me one of those ships in the Grand Fox! Certainly would make life a lot easier! I flew away from the colossal ship as its entire right half started ejecting escape pods and crumbling. I smirked and started hunting the fighters on Samus' tail. However, the damaged ship deployed the remainder of its fighter wings in one last desperate attempt to destroy us. Including a much larger mining ship from its bottom. I cracked my neck and scowled. Here we go again.

"_Ah...Fox James McCloud, again we meet in Meteo, in such familiar circumstances~" _The Meteo Crusher Officer scoffed, his effeminate voice oozing with a familiar pomposity. Wonderful.

"How did _you _survive our last encounter?" I smirked and flew to his armed mining drill, whose rear rotor started spinning and shooting greed waves of 'v' shaped plasma at me. I barrel rolled out of the way of the shots and returned a few volleys at him.

"_Ahaha~ Silly fox, ever heard of an 'escape pod?' Quite marvelous inventions if you ask me...aha~" _the ape officer spat back as I chased him through the asteroid field, Firing into missing segment of the rear rotor. Still kept that ol' design flaw, I see. "_Ah ah ah, you sly mutt, I knew you would do that! I have made some...much needed upgrades to this!" _

With a snooty laugh, the missing rotor segment suddenly filled itself, shielding the emergency exhaust ports. _Guess you could teach old monkeys new tricks eh?_

"_Behold! The Meteo Crusher Mark Two!" _The officer chortled cruelly as he landed a decent shot on me, weakening my shields significantly. _Damn it! "Specifically designed by moi to counter your little insect of a starship! Ahaha!" _

Cocky asshole, we'd find a way to break this tin can! Falco, Krystal and Slippy joined my wing and started firing at the Meteo Crusher MKII, though seemingly to no avail. Hopefully 'Slip would find some weakness soon.

I hastily avoided the turret fire of the 'mining' device.

Even though it was practically invincible, I still let off a few volleys of lasers, to seemingly no avail.

"Samus?! Could you provide some heavy artillery here?!" I called out, yearning for the huntress' assistance.

"_Can't, bogies on my tail." _Samus growled as her ship flew by, a few ships behind her. _Damnit! _

"Falco, Krystal, you two help her out!" I barked. "Slip, Miyu, Fay, On my wing! Analyse it while you're at it, Slippy!"

"_Aye aye, Fox, analysing now!" _Slippy responded chipperly as my ship rocked from a grazing, burning the lovely white paint...oh for fu- "_Analysis complete! Go for the thrusters! A well placed shot could rupture the fuel tanks and obliterate the drill and turrets! Now THAT'S what I call a design flaw!" _

"_You heard the man!" _Miyu laughed and open fired at the thrusters, zooming past the mining device in her attack run. "_Let's turn this idiot to space dust!"_

"_Gah! Insolent rodents! You'll pay for that one!" _

"_H-here I go!" _With a well placed shot, Fay actually destroyed one of the left thrusters, causing a large explosion which knocked the large weapon aside and destroyed a few turrets.. "_Hey! I-I got it!"_

"Good job, Fay!" I encouraged the timid recruit, if only to raise her confidence. Being grazed by blaster fire, I shot into one of the thrusters, causing another large explosion that broke the drill completely off the ship_, _leaving it just drifting. Slowly.

"_Again, I have underestimated you…" _The officer pitifully _lied, _likely ready to pull some new trick out of his sleeve. I braced myself as I prepared for the worst, his ship spinning around. But before any of us could react, a huge barrage of missiles and lasers flew directly into the underside of the Meteo Crusher, tearing the thing in half, leaving the cockpit drifting away. From the direction of the assault, Samus' ship flew up. On her wing was Krystal and Falco. I smirked. "_WHAT?! WHY YOU INSOLENT SLIME! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" _

Searching the area, I could only see our ships clearing out stragglers as the carrier and Meteo Crusher just drifted as space debris now. We did it!

"Thanks, Samus, that was getting a bit tight there!" I sighed happily and turned my ship to the fleet to fly back. "Status report!"

"_No feathers off my back, Fox." _Falco boasted.

"_A few dings here and there, but I'm alright!" _Slippy assured.

"_Never been better, Foxy~" _Krystal cooed in her smooth voice, causing me to blush slightly.

"_My heart is pounding hard...that was intense!" _Fay shuddered, poor girl…

"_That was awesome! I knew joining Star Fox was a good idea!" _Miyu laughed, her ship twirling by mine. Cocky, maybe she could give Falco a run for his money!

"_I'm fine, Fox." _Samus responded last with her usual stoicism.

"Alright, guys, great work! Let's go, we need a break! Even if it's a short one!" I chuckled as we all flew back to the fleet...

* * *

**Falco Lombardi**

I jumped out of my cockpit and stretched. As much as I loved to fly, these cockpits were always a tad cramped for a tall bird like myself. Meh, whatever. Glad to be back on the Grand Fox. As I began taking these cramped metal boots off, I noticed something rather peculiar in our hanger, Samus' orange gunship parked in amongst our fighters...interesting...kicking my remaining boot off, I stood up and placed them where the other boots go, making sure mine were at the end because of my large shoe size. Got mixed up with Slippy once, worst mission ever.

Walking across the hangar, to the gunship, I noticed everyone else walking by and discarding their tight boots in a similar manner. I approached the gunship and peered into the opaque green window for a moment, gently waving.

"You uh...gonna come out of there at all?" I asked. "I wanna know why you're in this ship and not the 'Fed's!"

Instead of any response, however, an elevator on the bottom of the large ship came down and lit up with lights that just beckoned me to climb on. I wasn't one to keep people waiting, so I climbed on the elevator, which immediately retracted back into the ship. Inside the ship was dim and slightly cold, but it was strangely...homely in here, from the fridge and the couches built into the wall. I looked straight ahead and saw the main window that was surrounded by control panels and the back of the captain's chair. Samus' large shoulders jutted out from the sides of the chair, so she _was _home. The chair slowly turned around and revealed the huntress, the green lights of her armour illuminating the dark room. I peered into her visor for a brief, awkward moment before she greeted me.

"What do you need, Falco, is it?" She coldly asked, scanning me up and down. I smirked and nodded, taking a seat on one of the rotating chairs by the main command chair and placing one leg on the other. Her body seemed stiff and rigid as she watched me.

"Just wondering why we have the honor of your company on our ship, " I casually explained and leaned back. "Thought you'd be back with your species."

"I'm not a people person." She sighed and prepared to turn around to stare at her screens. "Your ship has fewer crewmembers that know me."

"Take it that's why you wear your visor all opaque like that?" I genuinely asked, not breaking line of sight where her eyes would be. She seemed to be a bit stunned by my question, breaking her line of sight with me for a sec, choosing instead to stare at her knees.

"I-I…" She sighed in defeat. "Yes…"

"I take it no one has asked you that before," I smirked, which caused her to flinch. She must've been _really_ antisocial. Easing up a bit, I lowered my tone. "Don't blame you, honestly. This galaxy is full of crooks and assholes, not worth your attention, eh? Least you got that scary armour to do the talking for you."

"..." she was completely silent for a moment before staring at me, her visor turning from opaque to translucent, giving me a good look at her face. her skin was pale. Her eyes looked tired and heavy and her cheeks were dotted with the occasional small scar. She was _definitely_ a fighter. "I'm surprised, Falco."

"About what?"

"How brazen you are," her eyes scanned me up and down. "Few have dared approaching me, much less wanting to meet me in my own ship."

"What can I say? I'm a risk taker, why do you think my team can't stand me?" I shrugged and stood up, stretching out a bit. "Speaking of, I should introduce you to the family, we enjoy the company of other people when we _rarely _get it, besides, dinner's cooking and I don't wanna miss that."

"...I suppose I should take your offer and accept your hospitality," she spoke to herself and stood up, easily towering above me. "Old Bird would have told…"

As we stepped on the lift, I stopped to question her.

"Old Bird?"

"O-oh…" She stuttered as her visor came on. "Just an old friend…"

"I see."

* * *

"You guys better have made extra! We've got company!" I shouted as Samus and I entered the mess hall, virtually all eyes landing on the behemoth of a woman beside me. We walked over to one of the tables and sat by Fox, Krystal and Slippy, while Miyu and Fay sat opposite us.

Fox looked at Samus in a mixture of awe and happiness before he smiled at her.

"Samus! It's an honour to have you on our ship!" He cheerily said. "Nice flying!"

"Yeah! You tore through that carrier as if it were nothing!" Slippy happily added with a big smile. "You think I could take that thing out for a spin?"

"Gotta agree with Fox on that one," Krystal chuckled. "You saved us a lot of trouble by taking out that carrier."

"I-I…" Samus stuttered quietly, looking down at the table, struggling to look at all the admiring eyes on her. I never thought I'd see this from her, heh. She straightened her back and stared at Fox, nodding slightly. "Thank you. Your support was much appreciated."

"Will you be joining us?" Fay tilted her head, her big spaniel ears drooping.

"Yeah! Extra company is always awesome!" The Lynx smiled widely and playfully punched Samus' arm from across the table. "Especially company like you!"

"..." Samus was silent for a moment, choosing to stare at me. I gave her a smirk and nodded, which she took as reassurance or something. "I don't see why not…"

"_Now approaching Aquas' Sphere of influence! ETA approximately three hours!" _ROB-64 spoke over the Intercoms__

At this rate, this war should be over in no time!

We all began chatting and bantering as we got closer to our next mission...

* * *

**Wolf O'Donnell **

"Fifteen minutes from deployment to getting _shot down_, Wolf!" Andrew spat at me with his nasally voice, his red face _somehow_ reddening even further. I grimaced and leaned away from the tall snow monkey, who sneered at me. "Just _how _did you and Panther mess up _that_ badly?! I gave you _one _simple task, to get rid of Star Fox!"

I snorted.

"Two against four is hardly fair, Oikonny," I grumbled and glared at him. Who did this skinny little man think he was?! If he wasn't paying so much, I'd knock this asshole's teeth out. "Star Wolf ain't been the same since you left, Pigma died and Leon exiled himself due to his..._excessive..._war crimes."

"Mainly the cannibalism, " Panther rolled his eyes and tapped his foot, twirling a rose between his fingers. "That's the main reason."

"C-cannibalism…?" Andrew gulped before shaking his head, walking up the steps to his holo-computer, dramatically swishing his general cape aside and staring at his displays. "Whatever the case, I'm still highly disappointed in your performance—Grr, What now?!"

An incoming transmission interrupted his needless rambling.

"_Lord Andrew!" _a monkey officer cried, his voice filled with panic. "_We've just got word that our Meteo blockade has been broken! Star Fox and their new ally are pushing towards Aquas! They're coming for you, Sir!" _

"Fantastic…" Andrew grumbled and punched his control console. "maximize our defences! I'll be falling back to Zoness—" falling back, I'd expect nothing less from Andrew.

Again, he was interrupted.

"_We also have some army, the others who attacked Corneria wanting to negotiate with you, my lord."_

"And you let them in?" the snow monkey rubbed his temples and sighed. "Fine, send them to me…"

Panther and I looked at each other.

"Not every day we make friends, huh, Wolf?" the dark feline smirked and crossed his arms. I merely grunted and rolled my eye and adjusted my eye patch.

We all turned to the door as it opened, revealing the glass tube hallways of our underwater Aquas base. Coming through the doors was a gang of tall and _spindly_ reptiles, purple scales and beady eyes. Leading them was a monstrously tall purple cyborg dragon. I felt a chill go down my spine as it stood at full height in the room. _What was that thing?! _Panther seemed just as nervous as I. The draconian snorted and peered down at Andrew, who pushed a button and raised his platform.

"So...you were the _other_ invaders?" Andrew asked, squinting at the dragon, who sneered back. There was a palpable silence in the room as the two traded glances. "I am the _great _Andrew Oikonny, leader of the Venom Remnant, _the true heir to Andross and future ruler of Lylat! _Who might _you_ be?"

God... I _hated _his self bolstering…

"..." the dragon snorted and gazed at Andrew closely, cracking his joints audibly. "_Ridleyyyy...Space Pirate General...we come...seeking an audience with you…" _

"Hmm…" Andrew stroked his chin and stared at the beast before nodding. "You've my attention, Ridley."

"_My...grr...master...believes that an alliance between us would be...beneficial…" _

"An alliance, eh…?" Andrew got an 'Andrew' look in his eyes. Never a good look if ya ask me. "for what reason?"

"_Our numbers dwindle...our home taken from us. We are on our last legs and our enemies are gathering and making alliances. This is a matter of survival."_

"..." Andrew went silent, if only for a moment. "We are in a similar situation...how many soldiers do your pirates have?"

"_Two hundred thousand at most…"_

Andrew grinned from cheek to cheek, his eyes lighting up like a thousand stars.

"Excellent!" the monkey happily exclaimed and held offered a hand to the larger being. Ridley just stared at him with a confused look. "_Psst, you're supposed to shake my hand!" _

__"_..." _Ridley made a low guttural noise and hesitantly took Andrew's hand in his claw, shaking it ever so slightly, which Andrew seemed to take much pleasure in.

"This'll be a wonderful alliance!" the snow monkey smiled widely and clapped his hands, turning around and pushing buttons on his command console, bringing up a red holographic display of Lylat. He cracked his fingers and started changing his tactical notes and fleet positions. "Star Wolf, leave us! We've much discussing to attend to, private leader discussions! I think we should start deploying our forces..."

He dismissed us with a wave. Taking his orders, I quickly left the room with panther to escape his incessant ramblings. We left into a glass tube tunnel that overlooked the vast, dark ocean floor of Aquas. I stopped and admired the view for a moment, crossing my arms and sighing gently. Guess we weren't getting fired today. Panther joined my side and gazed out to the dark waters too, tapping his foot. We remained quiet for a brief moment.

"Well, at least we have a better footing in this war," the cat casually commented, twirling his rose around as per usual. "So I guess we're getting paid for slightly longer."

"Not if we're shot down again, I'll say that for 'nothin," I grumbled and crossed my arms. "Hate to admit it, Star Wolf is fucking weak right now. We're good, but Star Fox is just absorbing every upstart pilot that exists."

"Pessimistic."

I smirked.

"Nah, just gotta state the facts so we _don't _die instantly next time."

"So, what are our plans, then?"

"We should start willing merc we can. Star Fox is _six _active pilots strong," I rubbed my chin and thought for a moment, peering out into the endless ocean. "We need to even those odds a little, we've been humiliated too much! C'mon, we're going to Sargasso, hopefully there's some idiots there who know how to fly."

Panther simply nodded as we began to head for the hangars. Star Wolf has been pushed around for _too _long! Watch out, Star Fox, _we'll bet the apex predators soon! _Just they wait!

**End of Chapter**


	3. Chapter 2: Aquas Assault

**Chapter 2: Aquas Assault**

**Samus Aran**

The conference room of the Grand Fox was a lot smaller and more comfortable than that of the Rendezvous', holding only all seven members of Star Fox, their android and myself. It was rather comfortable here. I stood between Falco and Krystal as we observed a hologram of the water world, Aquas and listened to our orders from the General and Admiral.

"_It is imperative that we destroy this base on Aquas, we don't want our enemies gathering on our doorstep," _The elderly bloodhound general explained, a red icon appearing where their base was. "_However, we believe that there are vital war plans stored on that base's systems. If we were to secure them, We would understand more of their campaign!"_

"I'd try and hack into their systems from up here," the green toad, Slippy stepped forward and explained, everyone including myself turning to stare at him. He cleared his throat nervously and continued his point. "However they'd likely either shut the communications off or start deleting things...the only way I can think we'd get those files is to infiltrate the base on-foot. But that presents numerous-"

"I can escort you in," I turned to the much shorter amphibian, who stared at me with large eyes, his jaw slightly open. "I have done operations like this multiple times in my career."

"_This could also provide us a shot at capturing or eliminating key officers of their war effort," _Admiral Cooke added. "_If this mission is successful, this could give us quite the upper hand."_

"A-are you up for this, 'Slip?" Fox gulped and place a hand on his friend's shoulder, concern bright in his green eyes.

Slippy was quiet, his eyes examining the hologram, me and the floor, as if he were calculating his options. With a subtle nod he fixed his attention on me.

"I-I think so," he gave Fox a brave nod. "As long as I have Samus covering me, I'll be fine."

"I'll cover you too, Slippy," Falco took a step forward and stood next to me, coming up only to my shoulder. "Between the two of us, you're practically invisible!"

As much as he joked, he wasn't that wrong.

"Falco…Samus..." Slippy smiled at the falcon. "Thanks, guys…"

For once, as Slippy said that, I felt my heart warm.

"What about us?" the blue fox rubbed her chin and stared at the command console for instructions. "What should we do?"

"_Cause a distraction and panic, attack suddenly and cause as much chaos as you can," _the admiral suggested. "_Just something to buy enough time for Samus and her team to get in and get those files. We'll also send fighters in to support you."_

"Alright, guys," Fox nodded and looked at his team. "Let's get this over and done with…" His face softened when he looked at the spaniel, who looked visibly nervous. "You'll be fine, Fay. Just stick close to us."

"T-thanks, Fox…" She gulped and headed to the hanger, her lynx friend behind her.

"I'll cover ya, Fay." Miyu smiled as they left the room.

I'd question the logistics of bringing such a soft-hearted character to a battle, but now was not the time for any of that. Instead I turned to Falco and Slippy, who were discussing the plan. They turned to me to speak.

"You two ready?" I simply asked, checking my HUD to see if everything was in order with my suit. The blue avian nodded in response, a smirk on his face. The toad nodded meekly.

"Alright," Slippy began as we made our way to the hangar, which was thankfully close to the briefing room. I internally thanked Star Fox for a well designed ship layout. "No doubt once they realise we're in their main data room, they'll send everything they can to stop us…" He explained as we went down a short elevator to the main hangar floor, where everyone was entering their fighters. We briskly approached my gunship, which was landed in a quiet corner of the large room. "You two think you can hold them off as I hack?"

"Definitely, Slip," the falcon nodded confidently and stepped onto my ship's elevator first, followed next by Slippy, then myself. As we ascended, Falco criticized. "Geez, do you need such big shoulders? I can't see!"

"Yes." I simply responded.

"I think they're kinda cool…" Slippy complimented. "What are they for?"

"Power cells. They're where my shields are produced," I explained as we entered the cockpit of my ship. "Without them I'm much more susceptible to incoming fire."

"That's ingenious!" The amphibian cooed as he sat down in the seat left of the command chair and put his seatbelt on. "What's the make of the suit and who made it?"

"Chozo Varia Suit, model SA1-4468-VM6-P," I recited by heart while starting up the ship. "Made by my caretakers, specifically for me and my training."

"If the humans made it," Falco questioned and sat down to my right, not bothering to fasten his seatbelt. "Why are you the only one that wears a 'Varia Suit…?"

"It wasn't made by humans. It was made by an avian species called the Chozo. Put your seatbelt on."

"Avian…?" Falco grumbled as he put his seatbelt on.

"Story for another time." I avoided the subject as the ship took off, following the Arwings out of the hangar and into space. The blue planet of aquas could be seen in the far distance. "We can speak more about my suit when the mission is over, Slippy."

"Fine by me!"

"Falco," I turned to the second tallest member in the ship, his blue eyes widening slightly as I stared at him. "How is your arm, is it any better? Can you fight with it if need be?"

"Uhh…" he removed his arm from his jacket and unzipped his flight suit down, enough to free his damaged arm. He flexed with it slightly, the medical brace chafing only slightly. He scrunched his fingers open and closed several times. Everything appeared to be in order. I felt a bit of sympathy as most of his right shoulder and his right breast were shaved down to treat his phazon burns. My dark nemesis would _pay_ for her sins. "I think everything is good."

"Excellent," I nodded in satisfaction and turned around to face the window.

Our flight into the planet was tense and quiet. I braced myself for the inevitable upcoming firefights by cracking my neck and double checking my HUD. I tightly clutched the flight sick as we began to enter the atmosphere of the planet, my ship surrounded by flame. My ship broke through the cloud layer, already coming across our fighters engaged with the enemies that scrambled above the stormy sea. Clearly, we got them by surprise. Thankfully, much of the fire was directed away from us.

"Are we close to the base?" I turned the autopilot systems on and spun my chair around to face Slippy, who's eyes skimmed over a datapad that he was holding.

"Yep! About a klick west!"

"Then let's go, I have an idea! Follow me!" I barked and stood up, heading to the elevator and cocking my arm cannon. Slippy and Falco looked at each other for a moment before standing up and following me. "Stay close."

"I don't like where this is going…" the bird sighed as the elevator turned to face the back of my ship and lowered. The loud sounds of wind assaulted our ears and violent rain pelted us, soaking us immediately. Good, this was acceptable cover.

"_N-now approaching the base!" _Slippy yelled.

Wrapping my arms around them both and pulling them close to my body, I jumped, my ship immediately flying away as we fell. Slippy screamed and clung to me while Falco was stunned and motionless. I located the surface base and activated my jetpack to slow our fall. I landed on the wet metal dome with a thud, my boots magnetising so I wouldn't slip or fall. I let Falco and Slippy down, the toad wobbled and still clung to my abdomen for balance. While Falco rubbed his face and sighed.

"You're insane, you know that?!" the ace pilot accused, pointing a finger in my face.

"We're here aren't we?" was all I responded with as I scanned the area for any entrances. "This should give us a slight head start, they don't know we're here yet."

"S-she's right, Falco…" Slippy shuddered at looked around at the aerial battle above.

I rolled my eyes and activativated my scan X ray visor, scanning the room below for any lifesigns. Thankfully, things seemed empty, as it simply appeared to be a storage room. I configured my plasma beam into a slicer and started cutting a portal for us to enter. I peered at the bird and toad, who appeared as skeletons as I forgot to turn my visor off. Morbid. Once things were successfully cut, I switched to my combat visor and pulled the circle of metal with my magnetised arm cannon and gently placed it down. I peered into the storage area for a moment, thankfully, it was rather dark. I flicked my head, ushering the two to follow. Jumping down, we landed atop a cargo container with a slight thud. I aimed around the room, just to make sure it was _absolutely _empty. The coast was clear. I looked at the two hominid animals and placed a finger over where my mouth was, signalling them to be quiet. Slippy nodded while Falco smirked and gave me a thumbs up. I spotted the door and jumped down to the side of the container that faced away from it, just in case.

My companions followed suit as we snuck behind containers to make our way to the door. Could never be _too _careful. Just as we snuck close to the door, it _opened! _Falco, Slippy and I pressed ourselves into the container. I made sure to turn off my bright green suit lights just to hide myself even further. My heart sank into my stomach at what I saw. _A Space Pirate. _The reptile was conversing with one of the ape soldiers of the Venom Remnant. _An alliance. _So they teamed up against us. Was _definitely _going to have to report this to the admiral. They lingered in the room for a moment, checking the contents of one of the containers. Likely ammunition. Squinting at them, I watched their every move as they made their rounds. Things were tense as the two remained in the room for upwards of five to ten minutes. Falco and Slippy remained silent the toad frozen stiff at my side as the avian stared at the top of his wrist as if he were wearing a watch. He stared at me and smirked cockily. This bird was something else entirely…

Before we fainted from holding our breaths for too long, the sound of the door opening and closing eased our rigid bodies. Activating my X-ray visor was enough to confirm that we were alone again. Slippy immediately spotted a small control console by the door and started hacking into the system, likely for the map.

"Guys! Cover me while I snoop around!" The toad meekly said as his fingers typed on the keys as fast as humanly...toadly? Toadly possible. It was actually quite impressive.

"Always needing cover, eh, 'Slip?" Falco snarked, eliciting a light chuckle from the toad. The Star Fox team had a certain...enjoyable chemistry. I supposed Falco calling them "family" earlier was well deserved. The blue falcon stared at where my eyes were, causing a slight shudder. He knew exactly where to look...others simply vaguely stared into my visor. Falco though… He gave me a sarcastic smirk. "don't tell me you'll need covering too, Sam."

"I...I can handle myself quite fine," I responded sternly, caught somewhat off guard by the brazen bird's jokes. Did this one even _feel _nervousness or have second thoughts…? Whatever the case, we still had a mission. "And I hope you can handle yourself on foot."

"Personally, I prefer the air," he upholstered his laser pistol and spun it around by the trigger guard, muzzling himself multiple times. I could only hope that he had his safety on… "but don't worry about me, Sammy, I can handle myself down here."

First 'Sam,' then 'Sammy,' he knew how to press my buttons despite knowing me for only a day.

"Looks like the main database is on sub level 4 of this base," Slippy turned to us, still typing away on the terminal. "Which also happens to be submerged under water, we'll need to access the base via this main freight elevator," He pointed to an elevator that was a few hallways away from this storage room. "Once there, we'll have to either sneak or fight our way to the data room...though I'm not sure the specifics of how many troops are garrisoned here…"

"The presence of the Space Pirates certainly makes that uncertainty worse…" I sighed and shook my head. I readied my arm cannon and approached the door. "C'mon, there's no time to waste."

"Right behind you, Sam," Falco smirked and joined my side, cocking his pistol and nodding at me. I gave him a nod in return as Slippy took cover behind us. "Three of us against an entire facility of them huh? How unfair..._for them."_

The mechanical door opened, revealing a tight hallway. An ape soldier immediately noticed us, but could not aim is rifle at us as I backhanded him with my arm cannon, immediately knocking him out. My shorter allies were silent for a moment, before continuing to follow me. Any ape or pirate that turned the corner was swiftly met with a swift end from mine or Falco's guns. Thankfully we were too fast for them to pull any alarms. Though when bodies were found, they'd likely sound. Whatever the case, we arrived at the main freight elevator.

"We shouldn't wait for this," I hissed and turned on my X-Ray visor again, counting at least twenty enemies on the elevator. All armed. I scoped out a nearby air vent near the door and shot the grate open. "In here, this will give us cover."

"uh...no offence Samus, but," Falco began cynically, raising his eyebrows at me. Specifically looking at my shoulders. I could _guess_ what was coming next. "Slippy and I can fit in there, but I think you're too—_WHAT_?!"

Both he and slippy audibly gasped as I rolled down into my suit's alternative form; the Morph Ball. I came only up to their knees now. Not even I understood the specifics of this design, but I was thankful I had this. Through the polar equator between the two halves of the ball, I could see my stunned allies.

"_Let's go, we don't have much time," _I ordered and rolled into the vent_. _I saw my animal allies look at each other in confusion before crawling in. First Slippy, then Falco next. We silently moved through the air vent until we reached an area that was just tall enough to stand up in. Uncurling myself, I knelt to assess the situation.

"What. The. _Actual—_" Falco hissed quietly. He stared at me, his beak naturally unhinging. A typical reaction to the morph ball. "What _other_ tricks does that suit of yours have?"

"Too many to name at the moment—" I was cut off by distant alarms sounding. The bodies have been found. We had to keep moving. We remained silent and still as we peered at the slow moving elevator through a vent grate. The troopers seemed hyper alert because of the blaring alarms. Once they all departed in search for us, I blew open the vent with a single shot and hopped down onto the freight elevator with my allies following suit. Quickly pressing the sublevel 4 button, I kept my eyes and gun fixated on the door, even as it shut. The elevator shook as it started, slowly descending down the large rectangular shaft at a surprising speed. I swallowed and braced myself as the sounds of the alarms assaulted our ears.

"_Warning, Code Red: intruder alert," _an automated announcement AI warned across the facility in a deep tone, causing us to flinch slightly. Without breaking my alert state, I continued aiming at the door, waiting for a likely ambush. "_Lifesigns detected in Cargo Elevator Four-A, all available personnel, pursue, capture and interrogate. This is not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill." _

"Whatever stealth we once had is gone, that's for sure, Falco huffed and took cover behind some crates and pointed his heavy laser pistol towards the exit with me. Why he or his crew never wore proper armour was beyond me. "Brace yourselves, this might get _messy_."

"I hope not, I just had my jacket sewn up and dry-cleaned!" The light-voiced toad gulped and hid behind a cargo container, timidly pointing his blaster, his hands quivering slightly. "We'll need to be fast, the Central Database isn't _too _far away, but be ready for a _lot _of resistance, you should take cover, Samus, they'll likely surprise attack us as soon as the door opens…"

"No..." Cracking my neck and cocking my gun, I looked back over my shoulder at him. His eyes widened as he stared at me nervously "I _am _the surprise attack."

The elevator conveniently stopped as I finished my sentence, good. Without hesitation, I charged a beam up, and transferred the buildup of power into my missile launcher, unleashing a Super Missile straight at the opening door. The projectile hit the door at a frightening speed, causing a massive explosion that shook the foundations of the area. Before even the smoke could clear slightly, I rushed into the fray and activated my thermal visor, counting about ten enemies waiting for us. I quickly seized a space pirate's neck with my left hand and shot several blasts into his abdomen, killing him instantly. I felt the sting of lasers hitting my side and saw my energy count drop somewhat. I threw the pirate's body at one of the ape soldiers, knocking him down while shooting a missile at the feet of three of the tangos. I switched back to my normal visor as the smoke cleared, hissing as my suit took a few more blasts of laserfire. One of Andrew's grunts fell to the floor dead as Falco rushed in and shot him down, bum rushing one of our enemies in the chaos, shooting the knocked down ape. The remaining apes threw their hands up in fear, but the last Space Pirate withdrew his forearm blade and kicked down my avian ally, sending his gun flying out of his hand. Falco's eyes widened as the burning sword almost touched him. In a moment of near panic, I threw myself between Falco and the pirate shielding us both by raising my left arm to counter the sword. My arm felt like it caught fire and started burning severely upon contact, though I used this opportunity to headbut the reptilian scum and shoot him point blank in the stomach, causing him to collapse and perish.

"Ngh…" My balance faltered slightly as my suit administered a coolant to the burned area. Hissing slightly, I reached out to Falco; who took my hand and let me pull him up to his feet. (Though I kept my arm cannon pointed at the surrendering apes). His blue eyes were full of gratitude and relief. Even with my glove on, I could feel the all too familiar texture of his feathers...if only I hadn't been wearing this… "Are you alright, Falco?"

"Y-yeah, thanks a bunch," He shakily smiled, reassuring me somewhat. "Don't usually get my tailfeathers saved like that...heh…"

"Wow, that was just…" Slippy gasped, before quickly aiming at the petrified grunts. "Stick em up! W-well, you're already...uh..._Keep em that way!"_

"What should we do with these two idiots…?" The blue falcon raised an eyebrow and let go of my hand.

I silently approached them and quickly snatched a security key from one of the two, not breaking my line of sight with them. They shuddered at me, likely staring at their own reflection in my visor.

"If you know what's best for yourselves," I quietly stated, scowling at them. "_You will run." _

Without hesitation, they simply fled down a hallway from us, leaving us alone with eight bodies and blaring alarms. That was the best decision of their _lives_. I turned to Slippy, who was fiddling with a datapad that displayed a map of the area. He silently pointed down the hallway. With a nod, I proceeded down the hall, gun at the ready. Slippy followed closely behind us me as Falco retrieved his blaster and covered our rears. I took a brief moment to appreciate the underwater views of ocean we got from the multitude of windows. If only I had my Gravity Suit in case any floods happened…

We passed through labs with all sorts of experimental equipment Andrew was developing for his army. Blueprints and plans were laid out across several different holographic screens. What I was told was true. Andrew was a brilliant inventor. Pity, he could've been useful. But in the corner of one of the labs was something that made my heart skip a beat. Vats of phazon. _Of course they'd have this. _The three of us stood frozen, observing the viscous blue substance that writhed in its container like a living being, seemingly wanting to break out of its confinement. After a brief moment of silence, I spoke up.

"We need to destroy this facility," I grunted in a low tone, glaring at the radioactive substance that almost destroyed my very physical being all those years ago. Would I ever escape this nightmarish chemical…? "We need to take out whatever experimental phazon weaponry they have here. And whatever plans they have."

"No objections from me…" Falco grunted and held his arm that sustained phazon damage tightly. "The less of this hell stuff, the better."

"Taking their data and blowing up their base…" Slippy commented. "...that'll teach em a lesson."

We turned to leave, but Falco stopped us, his eyes tightening skeptically and scanning the environment.

"Something is _seriously_ off…" he whispered and poked his head through the door into the empty halls. "It's quiet..._too quiet."_

"You're sounding like Peppy, but…" Slippy gulped and looked around nervously as well. "You're right, this is suspicious...I'd expect _way_ more resistance than this…"

"Let's just use this to get further in for now," I scowled and made sure the area was clear, grasping my arm cannon tightly. "The data room probably isn't far now."

After a few more minutes of minimal resistance, we made it to a large circular metal door that lead into a glass tube through the water. It was rather beautiful. We stopped for but a brief moment to admire the sea floor and all its local fauna. It reminded me of...Zebes, specifically Maridia. It's been too long...focus, Samus...you had a mission to complete. Exiting the tube was a dark room with a raised platform in front of a screen. Behind the screen was a giant mainframe. Bingo. The database. Slippy took no time to run up the stairs onto the platform and started hacking. Falco and I immediately took our places watching the door.

"You guys cover me, downloading everything might take some time!" Slippy shouted down while typing.

"Way ahead of you, 'Slip," Falco smirked and looked over to me. Knowing it was only him that was watching, I lowered my visor to look at him with slightly softer eyes. His resemblance to a Chozo was...uncanny. His smirk widened as he stared at me, shuffling slightly closer. "Hey, forgot to say how good you were back there, really saved my skin…"

He shot a glance over his shoulder to Slippy and whispered.

"Genuine sappy moments in front of others is something I can't do much."

I felt my lips contort into a slight smile. Not often I let myself show much physical emotion...how was he so able to get through my exterior so effortlessly…? Was he just naturally attuned to this? I let myself study the avian for just long enough to realise my visor was not opaque and he raised an eyebrow. I averted my gaze back to the door and stammered a response.

"I understand where you come from…in this line of—"

I was cut off by a distortion in the air in front of me. Immediately I turned on my thermal visor and caught a glimpse of an invisible Shadow Pirate Elite. In a moment of panic, I yelled out a warning and raised my cannon to shoot and shoved Falco out of the way of an incoming strike. He stumbled away as one of the elites forcefully grabbed my arm cannon and shoved it out of the way of him. I quickly jabbed him in the head with the side of my free hand, knocking the pirate back and decloaking him. I quickly spun around and backhanded the other with my canon, revealing him too. With their covers blown, they extended their wrist blades and attempted to rush Slippy's position. One somersaulted over my head but was quickly countered by a swift kick from Falco, who shot the elite a few times, but the pirate's armour was too thick. Falco immediately started getting pushed back by the enemy's swift strikes and slashes. I tried to help, but got kicked down by the other. I quickly rolled out of the way, its sword colliding with the ground where my neck should have been. Adrenaline started pumping through my veins as I struggled to even lift myself off the ground as these particular elites seemed to be experts in CQC. _Damnit. _Even as I kicked myself up to my feet, I could barely aim at this bastard because he was far to nimble and avoidant. I growled lowly and grit my teeth.

"_Get off me, you bastard!" _hissed Falco as he barely pushed the Shadow Elite off him and into a series of exposed pipes. In a quick moment of panic, I shot the pipe nearest to it, causing a rupture of coolant to spray all over the pirate. It screamed as alarms blared and its body began freezing slowly and painfully. As it froze, I shot a single, fatal missile at it, causing him to shatter. I could not celebrate this moment of victory for long, as I was tackled by the remaining elite. He pinned me down by the neck and held my cannon down with his foot. As much as I struggled, I couldn't escape his grip. _Damnit, these pirates earned their names. _It lifted its arm high to execute me with his sword, but was fatally shot by an injured Falco, who had placed his gun point blank on the neck joint of the pirate's armour. The elite choked and clutched its neck, falling off of be, dead.

"You ok, Sam?" Falco asked, eyes full of worry, his hand outstretched for me. Gladly, I let him lift me to my feet. (even if he did struggle because of how much larger I was than him.) We both walked over to Slippy, who was pale and shuddering, but unharmed thankfully. "Where the heck did those assholes come from…?"

"B-best not to stick around at wait..." Slippy stuttered and pulled a data storage device out of the mainframe console and placing it into his datapad. "Got their plans and deleted any backups on this system...now all that's left to do is-"

"Destroy this godforsaken base," I finished with a scowl and accessed the mainframe; whose passwords and firewalls were already breached by the toad. I cracked my neck and braced myself as I hovered my hand over the self destruct command. I looked at the other two and nodded. "Ready?"

They both silently nodded. With their confirmation, I activated the Self Destruct sequence.

"_Warning: Self Destruct Sequence Initiated. Repeat, Self Destruct Sequence Initiated, Five minutes until detonation." _The AI's voie blared over the speakers as red alarms began flashing wildly. I shot a super missile at the mainframe just to make sure this wasn't aborted. Without hesitation or even words, we started running to the exit. As soon as the door opened, I gunned down several Space Pirates and apes who were caught off guard by the doors opening. Once they were out of the way, we began rushing down the winding halls to the freight elevator. "_Four Minutes until detonation. Please Evacuate the Facility immediately."_

"A-according to the map," Slippy stammered, mostly exhausted by the running. "There should be an escape pod bay nearby, We'll have more than enough time to reach it at this rate!"

I nodded as he uploaded the map to my HUD's minimap.

"_Three Minutes until detonation," _warned the AI as we entered the escape pod bay; met with immediate resistance by Space Pirate and Ape forces alike. A pirate lunged to us with both blades extended, but was immediately shot in the chest and knocked aside by Slippy, who firmly, yet shakily held his gun. A few of the pods launched as I shot a few apes down. A pirate almost grabbed the amphibian, but was torn down by a very defensive Falco. "_Two Minutes until detonation. Please vacate the area as soon as possible."_

We all rushed into one of the few remaining escape pods; First Slippy, Falco, then finally myself. Though the life vessel launching knocked me down on top of the bird, who made very prolonged and awkward eye contact with me. Was my visor still down…? My face burned as it quickly came on. After a brief, and very awkward ride on the pod, it surfaced...and was subsequently launched into the air by the subsequent explosion that followed. We were in the air for an upwards of seconds harshly landing on the ocean. We were dazed, disoriented...but very much alive. Thankfully. Despite the launched water falling down like rain, the skies were blue and clear. The GF and Cornerian fleets hovered victoriously above Aquas' ocean. Mission Complete! I called my ship for a pickup as I busted open the hatch and stood atop the pod triumphantly with my peers, shooting single flare out of my arm cannon.

"_Slippy, Falco, Samus?!" _Fox called over the radio, panic and relief obvious in his voice. "_Are you guys alright?! We got really worried when your signals died in there…"_

"We're as good as ever, Flyboy," Falco chuckled into his comms. "Like I said, I'm not dying until you by me that beer!"

"We got the data and destroyed whatever they had down there, too!" Slippy exclaimed happily. "It's some real juicy stuff too!"

"_Good job, guys!" _A light female voice called. Fay; the spaniel, I believe it was. "_I knew you could do it!"_

"_That'll throw a spanner into their plans, heh." _Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. "_Good work, you three."_

"_Darn it! If I knew there was going to be explosions involved, I should've joined you guys!" _The tomboy Lynx jokingly complained. "_I'm coming next time!"_

"_Whatever the case,"_ Fox began. "_The General and Admiral will definitely be happy with the results." _

As my gunship closed in on us, our celebrations were cut short by a distress signal.

"_Distress call from Katina! We are under attack! Massive invading force has hit the planet lightning fast! Casualties are high! We need backup!"_

**End of Chapter...**


	4. Chapter 3: Katina Counterattack

**Chapter 3: Katina Counterattack**

**Fox McCloud**

Things were tense as we approached Katina. Most of our crew were silent and rigid. We didn't even have time to celebrate Slippy, Falco and Samus' victory on Aquas. Once more, we found ourselves sat in the Grand Fox's conference room. Though there was some slight chatter, I couldn't bring myself to join them. I just hoped Bill was ok...He should've been…he had survived the last assault on Katina, but...the thought of the invading force was far larger than Andross' was impossible to shake. Krystal; who sat next to me, placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. She likely knew what was exactly on my mind, being telepathic and all…

Before any more words could be exchanged, however, the admiral and general's holograms came on display with a hologram of Katina with both our and our enemy's fleets. We looked outnumbered here…

"_We won't even pretend to sugarcoat this," _The human admiral began with a stress filled voice. "_The enemies have sunk their teeth into the planet and refuse to let go. It's up to us to remove this parasite."_

"_This might be difficult, but if we take out their flagship-and forward base surgically and quickly, they will have no option but to fall back as we call upon backup from Corneria," _General Pepper continued. "_A majority of the fleet will engage theirs above the planet. Star Fox, lead our corvettes into the planet with the Grand Fox and engage the flagship at once! We cannot lose Katina, it's our main frontline!" _

"We'll do our best, Sir," I saluted shakily, turning to my team and Samus, all who looked as nervous as we did. Minus Samus; who looked as rigid and emotionless as she usually did. "Alright everyone...let's get to the hangar."

My mind could only focus on my academy buddy, Bill. It had been a while since I've seen him...I doubted I could've sent him a message now. Ugh...I shook my head and trembled as we all descended down the elevator and into the hangar bay. Few words were spoken as we all climbed into our respective Arwings. The most we spoke were exchanges of good luck.

The Grand Fox pushed past the fleet surrounding Katina with an escort of two Federation Corvettes. Before we broke the cloud layer, we all launched from our ship into a swarm of enemy fighters that immediately opened fire on us. We retaliated by splitting up into groups of two and lured them away from the larger, more vulnerable ships. Krystal formed on my wing and helped me flank a few fighters, shooting them down quickly and efficiently. From what I saw through the clouds, a lot of Katina's settlements were already ruined. A lump formed in my throat as I saw the destruction below. _Would Andrew truly throw everything away just for revenge…?_

"Alright, everyone!" I called out and looked at my radar, noticing that my team had pushed a majority of the bogies away from our convoy. Good. "Listen up! Falco, Krystal and Slippy! On my wing! We'll go ahead and clear the skies! Fay, Miyu! Hang back and guard Samus! We need her firepower!"

"_Roger that, Flyboy. On your wing." _Falco responded and joined me.

"_Understood, Fox." _ Replied Krystal.

"_Roger!" _My last teammate joined me.

"_Upcoming Cornerian military base," _Samus chimed in. "_Reports say their Flagship: the Shade is there. Clear the way, and fly carefully, it's a Space Pirate vessel. Covered in point-defence weapons." _

"Roger, Samus," I nodded and pushed below the clouds with my team, flying high above the wetlands of Katina, towards a familiar pyramid base; which was under siege by the Shade. My anxiety about Bill only worsened. I hoped that 'ol dog was alright…"Approaching the base now."

"_Be careful, everyone…" _ Fay whimpered.

Again, we were met with heavy resistance from enemy fighters. Lasers flew everywhere and we struggled to even stay in formation. My ship shook as it was hit from behind several times. What was worse is that from the trees and hills, AA cannons started firing at us. _How did they set up a defence force this quickly?! _Things were looking quite grim for us, he didn't even have time to fire, we were too busy avoiding enemy fire. I gulped heavily and gritted my teeth. We had to retreat, I expected a fight, but nothing _this _bad. As I readied my comms to call for a retreat, the enemies all of a sudden stopped firing and broke off from us.

"_What the…?" _Krystal gasped in a confused tone.

"_What's the big idea…?" _My avian wingman spat as we all slowly flew across the now quiet fields, the hum of the arwing's engine being the only sound that graced our ears.

"_Well well well," _A familiar voice sounded, as well as the logo of a wolf's head appearing on my comm's screen. _You had to be freaking kidding me._ From the Shade's hangars, a wing of four Wolfen appeared and spun in unison gracefully, zooming past us. "_Hello again, Star Fox! It's 'lovely' to see you again after that embarrassment on Corneria!" _

"Wolf!" I hissed and quickly rolled my ship around to meet his incoming squad that had looped around to engage us. "Where do you keep getting those ships?!"

"_None of your business, Boy!" _His panther cohort growled lowly at us with obvious contempt.

"_Looky! Wolfy got some new friends!" _Falco laughed sarcastically. "_Mind introducing em before we shoot em down?"_

"_You heard the pheasant, boys! Say 'hello!" _My canine rival complied with Falco's demands.

"_Weavel here," _ A graceful, yet highly robotic voice greeted us, an icon of his 'face' appearing on the screen. A golden visor on a green, egg shaped helmet appeared before us. He looked light some kind of high tech knight. Even in his cockpit, he slightly bowed. "_Space Pirate General, bounty hunter, and your worst nightmare. A pleasure to meet you, 'Star Fox." _

"_Hmph…" _Next to speak was a low, gruff voice that had more gravel in it than the average sidewalk. On the screen was a white...spaniel…? He looked like Fay...but had a single brown spot around his left eye which extended onto his left ear; which was entirely brown. Around his forehead was a red bandanna; which was not dissimilar to Fay's bow…who was this…? _Felix here. Enough chatter. Let's just get this over and done with,"_

"Brace yourself everyone!" I hissed. "_Here they come!" _

With no extra words, their Wolfens and our Arwings met in an immediate, and chaotic dogfight. Lasers flew everywhere, some of which scathed and shook my ship. The close proximity of all our ships caused us to scatter in several directions, while switching to All-Range mode. As I tried to catch my bearings, I was shot at from behind; causing me to start doing rolls and spins to try and evade his incoming fire.

"_Pursuing McCloud," _Felix coldy spoke while chasing me down, accurately hitting my wing a few times. I made a quick nosedive, pulling up when my ship was barely touching a lake I flew over. Water splashed up everywhere as I careened above the lake. This did not cause the spaniel to stop his chase. I quickly did a maneuver to turn myself around 180 degrees so that we were coming at each other head on. I squeezed my trigger as fast as I could, unleashing a few vollies of lasers into his ship. His ship quaked with my attack, causing him to pull up and disengage. He was fast, _but I was faster. "Ngh, damn you, mutt!"_

Using this new opportunity, I started pursuing the Star Wolf rookie, staying close to his tail. Though as I got in the rhythm of attacking him, I was attacked from the side from another Wolfen; forcing me to disengage Felix. Damn it!

"_Ah ah ah, Fox, I don't give you permission to shoot my teammates down!" _Weavel scoffed and put a few new burn marks in the side of my brand new arwing's hull. Shields were dropping fast and hard. I needed to up my game. I ascended, flying in as erratic of a pattern to get this knight guy off my back! I did a swift tailslide down, looping as I ascended. With this maneuver, I had a clear view of fuselage: which I quickly shot at, causing substantial damage. Smoke bellowed out of one of the Wolfen's intakes; causing a noticeable wobble in his ship. Weavel made a quick evasive maneuver and disengaged me. "_Why you! You'll pay for that!"_

Breathing a sigh of relief, I listened into my comms to see how the rest of my team was faring.

"_Jeez, this Felix guy is fast!" _Slippy whined, taking incoming fire from the spaniel's fighter. "_Could use some help!"_

"_A woman like you definitely shouldn't be flying!" _Panther cooed to Krystal, immediately sparking rage in my blood. That womanising bastard! "_Just think of all the stress wrinkles you'll get, hah!" _

"_Believe me, Panther. I'd rather have wrinkles like_ a _bloodhound than take your advice." _Krystal scoffed in disgust. That was my girl! "_Give up, Caroso, before I reduce you to stardust!"_

"_Getting rusty, Lombardi?" _Wolf growled lowly as Falco's shields dropped slowly. Damn it! I flew over to my toady wingman's aid, shooting in Felix's general direction to make him back off. Once that was done and I was thanked by 'Slip, I encroached on Wolf's tail, beginning to pursue the veteran criminal. THough, Wolf broke off his assault on Falco and engaged me by quickly flying to meet me in another game of air-chicken. Like before, I shot a Smart-Bomb at him; but he quickly tilted diagonally and narrowly avoided my bomb. It hit the surface below with a bright explosion; leaving a crater in its wake. I didn't have time to reload another before I was pelted by a burst of lasers from his Wolfen; damaging my craft even further. I grimaced and tightly held the flightstick as warning signs about shield integrity flashed. I myself fly forward for a moment before turning around and reengaging him in a dogfight. "_Predictable, Fox. What next? A snide comment about my eye? A mention of my smaller team? 'Really,' I look forward to your response!"_

"And give you more unneeded attention, O'Donnell?" I spat as we danced high above the wartorn wetlands of Katina, our shots reflecting across the swamp water. We flew ever higher in our airborne tango, exchanging shots; only about half hitting their mark as to our mutual skill. "I think you should retire, Wolf. You keep getting shot down and you're getting rusty with age! Get outta here!"

"_Insulting my age huh?" _ Wolf chuckled cruelly as he got my wing good. I sneered as sparks and smoke started coming from my left wing from that shot. "_That's a new one! Brace yourself for impact, fox-WHAT THE HECK?!"_

Wolf gasped as Falco practically came from a cloud above; shooting the canine's right wing; knocking the top one straight off. The red wing flew away and his Wolfen wobbled away from us quickly, with another ship flying up to distract us away from Wolf. I let out a sigh of relief as Falco and I returned to the rest of the battle. I was really glad I had Falco on my team...I could kiss him if he weren't so cocksure. Falco and I split up to pursue different targets. I noticed Panther close on Krystal's tail, getting a few good shots off on her. I growled and predicted a shot with my remaining Smart-Bomb. The bomb careened through the air, detonating just in front of Panther and annihilated the front of his fuselage; causing critical damage and making him go down. Gotcha!

"_AAAAAAH" _Panther shrieked and ejected quickly as his wolfen crashed and exploded; hitting a few of his own forces in the process. "_You bastard!"_

One down, three to go! Just before I got too cocky about our new number advantage; Slippy's panicked voice snapped me back into reality.

"_Oof, guys, cover me, I'm pulling out, my Arwing's sustained critical damage!"_ His arwing flew by and above the clouds, while I flew to stop his pursuer. "_Sorry guys, good luck!"_

"_How uncouth of you, Fox," _Weavel giggled cruelly, his robotic voice grating on my ears. "_Taking my prey! I suppose the leader of 'Star Fox's' remains will make for a much better trophy!"_

"Don't count on it, bud!" was all I could shout as Weavel and I began our airborne dance of dominance. I rolled out of the way of his vicious assault of lasers and a few missiles. For what he lacked in maneuverability, he certainly made up in aggression. I _weaved _in and out of the Space Pirate's attacks, barely having enough room or time to lay off a counterattack. My wing took more damage and I sharply inhaled. I couldn't keep this up for much longer at this rate. I sharply turned up, looping down again and shooting directly into his fuselage and wings; tearing his already damaged ship to shreds. "Bingo!"

His ship started exploding and falling apart. But before I could get any satisfaction: Weavel yelled out.

"_Ngaaah!" _He screamed and smashed through his cockpit window, unleashing some kind of orange energy sword from his right forearm. He propulsed himself up via a jetpack and the momentum of his ship. My entire ship shook as he landed on it; directly in front of my cockpit. What the hell?! "_I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" _

Setting my Arwing to patrol mode, I swiftly opened my cockpit and undid my seatbelt. The ear piercing wind penetrated my fur and practically deafened me. This was by far the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I magnetised my boots and hastily stood up, swiftly ducking to avoid a strike from this mad swordsman. I unholstered my blaster and shot him a few times, all which did minimal damage to him. He thrusted towards me. Though I sidestepped it, he still slashed my arm good. I hissed as it cut my jacket, jumpsuit and arm, though, no blood was drawn because it was cauterised. Though my arm burned, I pushed on anyway. I ducked and kicked him in the knee, but he didn't budge. He quickly slashed me as I disengaged, lightly scratching my leg and almost cutting my boot clean in half. I hissed as my jumpsuit's leg was cut open; exposing my bare leg up to my thigh. He slashed at me one last time, but I barely caught his sword arm with both hands, desperately holding it back with all my might. I noticed his hand reaching for a _very_ heavy blaster. My heart dropped to my stomach. Was this it…?

"So long, Fox McCloud," Weavel's yellow visor flashed as he spoke smugly. "This shall be a worthy kill—"

All of a sudden; he was shot by an Arwing; sending him flying off my ship and into the wetlands below screaming obscenities. Pity he likely survived. I was so grateful…

"_That was too close, Foxy," _Krystal huffed and flew by. "_We've almost pushed through!"_

I climbed back into my arwing and threw my ruined boot out the cockpit before closing it, wincing at the burning cuts on my arm and leg. Closing the cockpit; I rejoined the battle despite the pain I was in. three on two now! This was good, three against two!

"_Krystal and I have their other rookie," _Falco assured me as his Arwing speedily zipped by with Krystal's in tow. I smirked and tracked Wolf down. "_Mess him up, Flyboy." _

I met Wolf above the smoldering Pyramid, in the Shadow of their flagship. We circled it for a moment, before meeting each other in yet another game of sky chicken. We approached each other fast and aggressively. I pushed down hard on my fligtstick's trigger, firing off as many shots as I could; whilst he did the same. My shields dropped to critical levels as we silently fought. Why we always did this was beyond me...maybe we were too equal for any fancy bs? Whatever the case, we looped around and came at each other again one last time. In a flash of pure adrenaline, I just barely managed to shoot first, nailing finishing blow on one of his wings and the intake behind it. Not before he shot me in a similarly critical spot, causing my ship to stall and malfunction.

_Damn you, Star Fox!" _O'Donnell screeched as his ship spiraled downwards, hemorrhaging smoke as he ejected. Like Panther's ship, his crashed and exploded beautifully. Darn I was good! "_Felix, finish Fox! He's almost done for!"_

"_On it, Wolf," _Felix's Wolfen came from seemingly nowhere, damaged heavily by Falco and Krystal, but still in one piece and airborne. I could hear my heart beating heavily as life seemed to come to a crawl. His cannons glowed green as he charged. I gulped, hoping something else came to rescue me…

* * *

**Fay**

With a light, squeaky grunt, I shot everything I had into the Wolfen that was about to do poor Fox in. I couldn't let that happen! I tried my best not to close my eyes as my shots clumsily hit their mark; finishing off the already damaged fighter; causing it's pilot to almost instantly eject. Their parachute made it near impossible to see who exactly was piloting it, but that didn't matter now, help was on the way!

"I-I got him!" I nervously giggled and flew close on Fox's wing to make sure he was alright. He was still in the air, that was _something _at least. Though he was smoking and sparking pretty badly.

"_Haha! Scratch one bogey!" _Miyu laughed, flying close by to defend Fox as well. "_Good job, Fay!"_

"_Phew, that was a close one," _Fox gasped in relief. "_I think I can keep on going—"_

"_No, Fox," _Samus' voice called in for once, the silent huntress sounding surprisingly concerned for his wellbeing. "_Your ship is in no position to fly, get back to ship, we'll cover you from here."_

Following Miyu and I from behind was the Grand Fox and its escort of fighters and corvettes; which immediately started tearing into all the ground forces that were told to hang back during that battle with Star Wolf. This was certainly the jump we needed! Their prideful armies immediately scrambled and panicked. Miyu, Samus and I quickly flew over to the Shade with Falco and Krystal; whose ships were in better condition than Fox's. We all joined up on Samus' wing and escorted her over. I felt some kind of...confidence as I flew with them with our new advantage, we weren't the underdogs here like we usually were! I made sure to stay in tight formation with my lynx friend, she knew how to keep me safe...

We flew ahead of Samus; clearing the way of any attacking fighters and point defence weapons. Krystal and Falco took one side while Miyu and I took the other. We were met with two large cannons that guarded a hanger; which started shooting at the Grand Fox! Our Frigate's shields took the hits, but I wondered for how long…

"_Alright, Fay!" _Miyu began, her calling my name causing me to flinch slightly. I gripped by flightstick tightly as I eagerly awaited orders from my Lynx friend. "_I'll cover the hangars, you go for the guns! Keep moving, okay?"_

"G-go for the guns! Got it," I gulped and nodded as I flew to the first main cannon with a beating heart and sweaty palms. I gritted my teeth and shot at them, causing minimal damage. I looped back around while avoiding upcoming fire from their fighters. "Y-you can do this, Fay, you can do this, everyone's counting on you…"

I repeated this mantra several times as I fought the turrets, and occasional drone or fighter that snuck past Miyu. I winced as my ship took minor damage from incoming lasers. With a squeak, I pulled back and looked around, launching one of two Smart-Bombs I had at the base of the turret; inflicting heavy damage. Yes! I did it! One to go! With newfound confidence, I swung back around and fired off my other explosive, nailing the other cannon head on! I saw the Grand Fox immediately begin closing on the Shade once these main broadside cannons were dealt with.

"_Miyu, Fay!" _Falco barked over comms quickly. "_Get over here, we're getting swarmed out here! You two are in better shape than us!" _

"R-roger dodger, Sir!" Was my response as I prepared myself to fly around the long and smooth dark green cruiser. "On my way!"

"_Hold on, Fay I think I might know a shortcut! Follow me!" _I followed her curiously, but internally panicked as she began flying towards the Shade's hangar bay, which was two way through the frigate. Was she _insane?! _Following her in case she could get hurt, we both flew into the hangar; where a bunch of apes and space pirates were caught off guard by our _very _risky maneuver. Before they could react, Miyu shot a smart bomb directly in the centre of a bunch of their landed ships; wiping out a huge portion of them and leaving a massive hole in the ground. Steam, smoke and coolant sprayed everywhere, causing alarms to blare. I began screaming as she shot her remaining bomb into the ceiling; annihilating it practically instantly! My heart raced as we flew out the other side; the hangar practically caving in as we did so. Smoke plumed and rose from the primary hangar bay and into the orange sky above.

"_What the hell did you two just do?!" _Krystal gasped as we joined on their wing, engaging the enemy fighters and point defence weapons.

"_You two are insane and ballsy!" _Falco squacked as he shot down three fighters very quickly. "_I like your style!" _

"_Beginning our bombing run now," _Samus's gunship flew overhead with a wing of Federation Bombers and Fighters. "_Good work Star Fox. We'll handle the rest."_

We pulled back and triumphantly watched as The Shade was torn apart by bombers and the two corvettes broadsiding it from both sides as it desperately tried retreating to no avail. The Pirate cruiser began losing altitude, crashing into a nearby field as the rest of the GF and Cornerian Fleet descended from the clouds; clearing any and all stragglers as the sun started to set. Drop ships made surface landings to engage the ground forces. We may have been outnumbered on the ground, but I think we shattered their morale today. Don't mess with the good guys!

"_I'd do a status report, but I think one of the rookies should do it, they ruined the hangars after all" _Falco chuckled lightly as we all formed up and started heading for the Grand Fox. "_Sound good?"_

"_No objections from me, _Krystal agreed. "_Go ahead, girls."_

"_You heard 'em Fay," _Miyu laughed. I started blushing as they all wanted me to do it. "_Don't keep us waiting!"_

"O-oh! Alright!" I gulped and prepared myself, straightening my back and clearing my throat. "Status Report? How is everyone doing?"

"_Doing fine, Fay," _Fox responded first, sounding a bit sleepy. "_On morphine and being treated for injuries, thank you for asking. You were awesome out there!" _

"_I'm alright too, a bit shaken, but very much alive and repairing the Arwings!" _Slippy eagerly spoke next.

"_Flying high and strong, ma'am," _Falco chuckled. "_In all seriousness, good job you too. You're becoming fine flyers."_

"_Good as always, Fay." _Krystal cooed in satisfaction.

"_I feel like a million bucks, Fay!" _Miyu guffawed with pride in her voice. "_We. Were. Awesome!" _

"_Samus here. I'll stay behind to clean up. Getting a strange signal that I'm going to investigate. Again, Good work, you two. You're the best recruits I've ever seen."_

"A-alright, everyone!" I finished with a shaky, but proud voice. "Let's go home and rest. We deserve it."

With no other words, we flew back to the Grand Fox, triumphant and victorious after that hectic mission. I felt like I was gonna faint, hehe...

* * *

**Samus Aran**

The sun hung low in the sky as I walked slowly through a field of knee high golden grass with very few trees in search of the unknown signal. I squinted and scanned the environment, seeing a ruined communication console just lying there for whatever reason. I tilted my head in sheer confusion at this, but immediately readied my gun in suspect of an ambush. I checked my surroundings slowly, a feeling of uneasiness welling up inside of me. My breathing became more stunted when I felt a _presence _behind me. I slowly turned around, pointing my arm cannon.

Stood at the other side of the console in my shadow was..._her. My Shadow. _She looked no different to how she did on Phaaze. A twisted, abominable version of myself. I wanted to cry, shout, murder her all at the same time, but all that parted my lips were;

"_Metroid Prime."_

Her blue visor stared into my soul. Silently and if she was studying me. Dark Samus tilted her head and peered at me silently, breathing heavily and cruelly. Why did she have to be still alive…? Why can't I be _rid_ of this creature?!

I closed my eyes and remembered Tallon IV, Aether, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda. As long as Dark Samus still lived..._everything would have been in vain. _

I raised my arm cannon and aimed at her. She mirrored me and started hovering. Without words. _We began._

She quickly began strafing and circling me, shooting off her rapid-fire shrapnel beam at me, hitting my arm and chest. Even despite my armour; I felt the all too familiar burn of phazon hitting my body. I hissed loudly and hopped to the side to avoid her attacks as she continued to circle me at a terrifying speed. I predicted and shot a missile ahead of where she was going, making her slide into it. It struck her chest and sent her flying back somewhat, though she caught herself on her feet and retaliated by lunging towards me. Her arm cannon opened; revealing some kind of _frothing _phazon energy. As she pulled her arm back to likey punch me, I quickly Morph Ball'd under her, dodging her attack. Her punch hit a tree, splitting the entire thing in half and making it fall with a thud.

As I disengaged my morph ball, Dark Samus quickly turned around with a low, guttural grunt. She configured her Arm Cannon again to start rapid firing missiles at me. I cartwheeled and rolled out of the way as best I could as the long grass was getting incinerated by her attacks. I made a quick counterattack by shooting a missile at her feet. Before the explosion was even gone, I jumped through the smoke, unleashing my plasma beam at my twisted shadow. She shrieked in pain as my beams made burning contact with her chest and abdomen. She swiftly caught the top of my right arm with her left and raised her right arm, causing me to mirror her. We held our arm cannons, firing into the sky in our clash. She dimmed her visor somewhat, revealing her bright yellow eyes; _the eyes of a murderous abomination. _I lowered my visor and glared into her eyes, gritting my teeth as she squinted at me, crushing my arm with her monsterous grip.

I remembered her eyes well, the Essence of Metroid Prime, her overloaded phazon state on Aether...every time, these bright yellow eyes were full of hatred, contempt and murder. Ridley was the most despicable monster I ever met...but she...did she even have a soul in there? Or was she just a hollow husk, devoid of all life and emotion? Whatever she was, she needed to be '_released' _from this world.

As we clashed, I used all of my weight to throw her aside onto the ground. WIthin a split-second, I had my foot on her chest, pinning her down and I shot several searing bolts of plasma directly into her face. She writhed and screeche in agony as I prepared to finish her with a Super-Missile, only to be met by some kind of phazon blast from the dark-suited witch which sent me flying back into a tree, knocking it down upon landing. A warning on my HUD came up.

'_Experimental phazon tank at 50% capacity.'_ Good. I knew designing my own upgrades would work-

I couldn't even get up before Dark Samus lifted me up by the throat and slammed me down into ruined tree below multiple times until I went through it. I screamed in pain as my suit was taking excessive damage from her onslaught. She lifted me up off my feet and placed her cannon directly on my chest; unleashing a charge beam directly into me, again sending me flying back; screaming as I hit the ground, breaking one of my shoulders and cracking my visor. Warnings appeared on my visor, as well as a '75%' message. My eyes widened and I rolled out of the way before Dark Samus hit me from above like a meteor. Even then, the impact knocked me back. I felt like a damn ragdoll. I barely even had time to push myself up onto my feet. It was clear that she harboured a huge grudge against me. I staggered back and coughed, my enhanced physique struggling to handle this. My muscles burned from a mixture of phazon and straining.

Once again, she lunged at me, shooting wildly as she did so. I didn't bother to fight back yet, I simply dodged and absorbed as much phazon as I could. I growled under my breath as her stamina was seemingly infinite. She had noticed my refusal to fight back and used the opportunity to charge up one large attack. From her Arm Cannon, she unleashed a large wave of phazon, similar to the one that corrupted me and my bounty hunter allies. _But I was prepared for it this time. _

The beam struck me and was doing massive damage to my suit. My energy metre was draining like mad and my suit burned. Even as I started screaming in pain, I felt a wave of confidence as one last message popped up on my HUD:

'_Experimental Phazon Tank at 100% capacity, Hypermode engaging." _

A surge of energy pumped through my suit, turning all the green lights a searing blue colour that shot out of my suit brilliantly. I glowed, not dissimilar to her. She seemed caught off guard by this. Even more so when I unleashed one last desperate Hypermode charge beam off on her. The fully automatic shots tore through her, eliciting loud feminine screams out of her as her body was literally blasted apart. I shot her arm cannon off, which disintegrated into blue particles. The phazon destroyed her physical form, leaving her as a blue cloud of particles. Instead of letting her get away, however, I tried to absorb them into my Phazon Tank to contain her; only for a malfunction error to interrupt me...followed only by my right shoulder exploding Indicating the tank broke when I had used it. _Damn it, no! _

I helplessly looked on as Dark Samus' residue scattered to the wind. _She'd be back._

I fell backwards against a tree and coughed, staring at the sky as the sun just disappeared over the horizon...at least we saved Katina...it was a beautiful planet...I shook my head and began limping to where I had landed before. My suit was ruined. I let myself get injured...ngh…maybe...maybe I needed help...Star Fox was there for me...I thought about my newest; and closest friend; Falco. He was cocky and irritating, but he was the only one else who fought her and 'won.' Perhaps I should have spoken to him more. Whatever the case...I needed to repair and recover…

Even if it was the last thing I did…

_I would finally destroy the scourge that is Dark Samus._

**End of Chapter… **


	5. Chapter 4: Recuperation

**Chapter**_**4: Recuperation **_

**Fox McCloud **

I woke up in the infirmary bay of the Grand Fox, listening to the light chatter of families friends. Sitting on my bedside was Krystal; who was gently rubbing my hand. My eyes were barely open, but I could make out who she was speaking to. Sat on the other side of me was a beige bulldog. He seemed quite injured himself, but very much alive. Bill! I quickly and sneakily grabbed Krystal's hand and pushed myself upright, still a little weak from the morphine, but I still managed to smile widely at them.

"Speaking about me, eh?" I chuckled and leaned back, noting that Krystal didn't pull her hand away from mine. "Any juicy rumours?"

"Fox!" Both Bill and Krystal happily greeted me with wide eyes.

"Man, it's great to see you again, Fox!" Bill chuckled and patted my shoulder. "Even if we're both in the infirmary, hah!"

I laughed with him and made myself more comfortable. I frowned when I saw a similar medical brace to Falco's around Bill's right thigh, peeking out of his shorts and pumping the same medical gel into him.

"Bill, what happened…?" I pointed to his injured leg. He raised an eyebrow at me and lifted his leg onto the chair he sat on, pulling up his shorts even more, revealing a large singed piece of fur where the brace was.

"Shot in the leg by some bastard before I could even get to my ship," he casually explained, reaching down and pulling a crutch from the floor to show me. He sighed and frowned "Have to use this stupid thing for a few days."

All things considered; he seemed pretty calm and relaxed. He reached a hand out for me and pulled me up along with Krystal. I slowly climbed out of bed; which caught Bill and Krystal off guard somewhat, considering I was in nothing but my underwear.

"Tsk tsk, Fox," Krystal giggled and exaggerated her reaction of averting her gaze. "have you no common decency?"

"Never seen a man like this huh?" I jabbed her shoulder with a finger, smiling all the way as she laughed even more. "Besides, remember what you were wearing when we first met—?"

I was interrupted by Bill awkwardly clearing his throat and looking down. Krystal and I immediately blushed and chuckled, looking at everything but each other…(even if Krystal shot a few flirty peeks at me.)

"Uh, you should get your clothes on and join us, we're having a few beers and stuff to lighten up," Bill chuckled and hobbled out on his crutch. "Don't keep us waiting, yeah?"

"I got you a replacement of clothes for when you woke up~" Krystal pointed toward a table with my casual clothes all folded up neatly. She winked at me before leaving. "Like he said, 'don't keep us waiting."

I chuckled as I was left alone in the infirmary in my undies. Shaking my head, I walked over to the main window and stared out at Katina as we hovered in the high atmosphere with the rest of the fleet. Something about being this high in a planet was always strangely relaxing. It reminded me that I was grounded to a planet somewhere, but space and freedom was just at my fingertips. It was all very serene.

I swished my tail about and looked down at my bare paws, frowning at the large scar on my leg. Hopefully that'd get grown over by fur. That was a _nasty_ cut. Damn that swordsman asshole. _Who uses swords anyway?! _

I closed the curtain around my bed and removed my underwear, enjoying the feeling of true freedom I got while staring out into space. Good thing these windows were one-way. Didn't want the passing ships to see _everything. _Before I did anything, I started doing my stretches and exercises. Gotta stay limber. I started out with a crane stretch before bending over and touching my toes. I looked in a nearby mirror at myself, smirking as I flexed my lean muscles. Lookin good, McCloud. Looking good.

With one last inspection of my battle hardened body, I cracked my joints and got dressed in the provided shorts and vest Krystal left me. Very comfortable. Even if these shorts are getting too...well..._short. _Whatever the case, I left the infirmary feeling only slightly tired from the morphine they pumped into me. The metal floor was cold on my bare feet.

I walked down a few hallways and into the mess hall; where everyone minus Samus was gathered. They all stared at me and cheered happily as I sat down by Krystal and Falco, the blue avian sliding me a bottle of my favourite beer: Papetoon Reserve. Reminded me of...Dad. This was always his favourite too...I missed him. Falco patted my shoulder knowingly, a more genuine smile on his beak.

"Hey, it's Flyboy," Falco half chuckled while shooting an occasional glance in the hangar's direction before looking back at me. "Finally decided to get up, huh?"

"Best sleep I've had in awhile," I chuckled and took a swig of my cider, enjoying the sweet taste. "I should sure use more of that morphine."

Everyone laughed as I proudly took a sip of my drink. Damn it, they made me feel like a hero. I let out a happy sigh and stared out the window. I didn't look for long, as I took notice of our absentee.

"Falco, where's Samus?" I tilted my head at the somewhat distracted avian, concern rising for our newest friend. "I haven't seen her since her run in with Dark Samus."

"Probably in her ship," Falco shrugged and swished his bottle around, seemingly without interest in drinking. He didn't seem like himself today. I wondered what was wrong. "She's a loner like that, heh."

"I see," I turned to Slippy, who fiddled with a datapad, likely with the data he, Falco, and Samus stole from Aquas. "Anything good on that, Slip?"

"Uh, yeah!" He eagerly scooted over to me and showed me the screen. He pointed out a map of their bases. "Looks like they set up shop on Fichina, Fortuna, Macbeth and Titania. They're staying away from sectors X through Z, I think they learned their lessons since last time, eh Fox?"

I smiled widely with this new information in mind. We _definitely_ had the upper hand now.

"Good work Slippy," I patted the shorter toad on the shoulder. "Sent this to the general and admiral yet?"

"Way ahead of you, Fox!" Slippy gave me a proud grin. "Already transmitted this information to them, they're formulating a plan as we speak."

"You stick it to these bastards good, Fox," bill grabbed my shoulder and gave me a strong look. He held his crutch tightly, so tight it looked painful. "I was told to stay and defend Katina, orders are orders, after all."

"I'll take down as many for you as I can, Bill," I smirked at my injured comrade. "I promise."

"Also, Fox," Slippy began with a concerned expression. He tapped on his pad a few times and stared blankly at two files he couldn't open. "I've cracked everything _but _these two files, these have been encrypted to all heck."

"Projects A-R and X-F," Peppy began as he walked by, stroking his whiskers wisely. "Whatever in tarnation is on those files, Andrew didn't want us having them. It ain't good, that's easy to say."

"Probably just private photos of him or something," Falco shrugged, eliciting a loud laugh from the slightly drunk lynx recruit who sat on the nearest table. "We all take em."

"No, Falco," Peppy scowled. "His security systems are already airtight and well programmed. These must be _extremely _important if he put his strongest encryptions on them. He may be a coward, but he ain't no fool, he's Andross' nephew after all. He's likely up to somethin. _Big."_

"If we don't get this cracked by the time we get to venom," Slippy continued Peppy's point. "We're gonna be in a _whole _lotta pain from whatever he has up his sleeve. I guess I'm gonna have a few extra all nighters...hehe...heh...hoo boy I hope we have extra coffee..,"

I grimaced. Whatever were on those files was real _bad_ news. We were putting him on the defensive now, no doubt he was going to dig his heels into the dirt and say 'come get me!' We had to prepare for the worst. Though this war was short, it was gonna get bloody. Whatever he had planned for us, we'd be ready for it.

"Whatever's in store for us," I stood up, proud and tall. (Despite being the fourth shortest of my team.) I raised my drink and voice. All eyes were on me. "We can handle it! We've seen and been through plenty worse over the years! Andross, the Aparoids! You name it, we've seen it! Let's stick it to that miserable monkey, Andrew! We're _Star Fox! _It's what we do! Am I right or am I right?!"

Everyone cheered for me and held up their drinks. I smiled at my team and took a swig of my cider. I couldn't help but chuckle at the way Fay and Miyu's eyes sparkled like stars as I gave my speech.

"Just like your father, Fox," Peppy nodded approvingly with a big smile. "Just like your father."

"Slippy, you keep cracking those files for now," I ordered. "The general and admiral would love them. We'll win this war in no time with your big brain, Slip."

"Aww, shucks, Fox," Slippy blushed and adjusted his cap. "You're too kind."

"That's our leader!" Falco cheered and took a sip of his beer.

We spent the next hour or two drinking semi-heavily and celebrating the retaking of Katina. I felt slightly tipsy when I decided enough was enough. I peered around the room that reeked of alcohol, everyone else seemed slightly drunk, minus Fay and Krystal. The Cernian Fox stared at me, then to the white dog who was trying to keep her intoxicated lynx friend in line. Krystal's eyes were filled with concern. She left the room in a hurry before contacting me with telekinesis.

"_Fox. My room," _her usual brazen voice as serious, just like when I first met her in Cernia. "_We need to talk about Fay."_

About Fay? I gulped and followed her. When I entered her room, I saw her swiping back and forth on her data pad. I sat beside the blue fox, taking note of how soft and spongy her bed was. She handed me her pad; which displayed a mugshot of our spaniel recruit.

"Take a Look at her, mainly her nose and eyes," she pointed towards the rounded triangle shaped noise and her wide blue eyes. "Now compare her with him, I got this picture off of the known wanted mercenary lists. I'm certain this was the guy we fought yesterday."

My heart sank as I saw his mugshot appear. Rounded black nose and wide blue eyes. White fur and he was obviously a spaniel. Remove the brown spot and ear and he'd be an exact male replica of Fay. The resemblance was _that_ uncanny. Felix, just _who_ were you?

"This...jeez this is...have you spoken to her about this?" I gulped and compared the images again. "This seems pretty important."

She cut me off by grabbing my hand in hers and staring at me with a worried expression.

"You should tell her, Fox, you're her leader after all," she squeezed my hand with a smile. "She looks up to you, I heard her in the showers the other day speaking to Miyu. Idolises you, even."

I blushed. I wasn't aware she admired me so much. Whatever the case, I nodded.

"Right, I'll tell her," I stood up and prepared to leave, but Krystal stood up and quickly pecked my cheek, which sent my face into a burning blush. "K-Krystal?!"

"For being such a good leader," she gave me a coy smile. "That and I didn't have much privacy earlier~"

"D-damn you, Krys, you know the best ways to mess with me…" I said with a blush, taking her datapad with me. She laughed at me and waved as I left.

"I know!"

* * *

**Fay Farley **

"This girl, _right _here!" Miyu guffawed with her arm wrapped around my shoulder, her other arm clutching a bottle of beer. She smelled of alcohol… "followed me right through that damn hangar! She's got balls! _*hic!*_"

Everyone chuckled in amusement as Miyu drunkenly stammered on. I barely even noticed Falco slipping out of the crowd and out of the mess hall.

"Only to make sure that you were fine, Miyu," I blushed and wrapped my arm around her back to keep her balanced. I struggled to do so because of just how darn tall she was. She stood above everyone apart from Falco and Samus. Second most masculine woman I've ever met, most until meeting Samus! "Someone has to keep you in line!"

"I—I told ya she has balls!" Miyu laughed drunkenly while wobbling, she was quite difficult to keep upright. Ugh, curse her and all of her five feet and ten inches.

"Alright, Miyu," I fake chuckled and ushered her to move. "I think you might have had one too many drinks, don't you think?"

"I...I g-guess, _*hic*_" Miyu swayed a bit, causing me to tighten my hold around her. We began walking to her room together. Slowly. We left the mess hall and she smiled a drunk smile at me. "T-thanks, Fay, hehe...just to my room, please…"

She slurred, still somewhat cognitive.

We walked through the Grand Fox until we reached her door. She struggled to input her passcode, but she managed eventually. Her room was an untidy mess with clothes and other such gadgets strewn about across the floor. I scowled at the mess she lived in. How uncouth. I led her to her bed slowly and carefully helped her into it. Thankfully it was already unmade, so it was easy to tuck her in.

"Not feeling sick, Miyu?" I gently asked, making her comfortable by fluffing her pillows. I quickly ran over to the water dispenser built into the wall and filled a plastic cup full and placed it on her bedside table. "You good?"

"Hehe. Thanks, Fay…" she hiccuped and took a sip. "Y-you're the best, don't think you can look after me when I wake up hungover, eh?"

"Sure, I can do that," I playfully rolled my eyes and helped her remove her single earring. "Guess I'm your nanny now."

"H-heh, yeah…"

We were silent for a moment, awkwardly left looking at each other. I blushed for whatever reason and cleared my throat, standing and dimming the lights.

"Goodnight, Miyu."

"Night, _skygirl_~"

My face burned as I closed the door behind me. '_Skygirl?!' _That nickname...did drunkenness make her say that?! I rubbed my face and giggled quietly. I liked it. It was cute. However, before I could gush more, the familiar voice of my boss made me jump.

"Fay, you got a minute?" Fox slowly approached me with a raised eyebrow, a datapad clutched in his hands. I tilted my head for a moment before standing straight to attention.

"O-of course, Sir!" I saluted, which he smiled at.

"Less formal, Fay," Fox chuckled.

"O-oh...yes sir—I mean!" I loosened up. "Fox."

"Let's take this somewhere more…" He looked around suspiciously, then to his data pad with concerned eyes. "...private."

I nodded understandingly and led him to to my room, where I let him enter first. He looked around at all the pink and fluffy things in my room with wide eyes. I giggled at him, causing him to chuckle awkwardly. The foxy commander took a seat on my coffee table, tapping at my teapot and cups with a finger, likely surprised at the authentic porcelain.

I sat on the chair opposite to him and tilted my head.

"Tea?" I offered him. He politely shook his head and tapped on his pad, well, Krytal's pad. Why he had that was beyond me.

"Alright, Fay." He gulped and breathed heavily. He slowly spun the screen around at me. "Have you seen this man before? He's part of Star Wolf."

My heart sunk as soon as I saw the portrait of the man in question. He was a white spaniel with bright blue eyes, a large brown spot across his left eye and ear. Even as just a mugshot, his eyes pierced me. I had seen those very eyes before. In the mirror and my memories of..._dad._

"He...he looks just like my dad…" I gasped and took the pad from Fox, staring intently at the photo. My eye twitched as I remembered how much he hurt my mum. "I knew my father was a cheater, but...how old is this spaniel?"

My eyes drifted to what was in his hands. It was what prisoners usually held in mugshots, a black piece of plastic which their credentials in it.

'_Felix Farley, Sex: M, Height: 5'5", weight; 135lbs, DoB; 5/8/3765. Age: 23'_

My blood boiled. He was four years older than me. My dad married my mother _before _that. Cheating arsehole...Farley...that was _my _legal surname. I grit my teeth.

"He...he must be my half-brother…" I whispered sadly, examining the photo of Felix. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. His mother was likely lied and cheated on too. I let a tear fall into the screen as I handed it back to Fox. "H-here. I don't know much about this man, I've never seen him before in my life, but, he's definitely my father's son."

"Unfortunate he ended up with Star Wolf…" Fox grimaced. "You alright, Fay? You're crying."

"I-I'm...I'm fine I think…" I sniffed. Maybe Mum knew something about Felix. Maybe he's why Mum kicked Dad out.

"It's your call, Fay," Fox stood up and squeezed my shoulder supportively. "What should we do next we cross paths with him, he's your brother, after all."

"Capture him, I want to speak with him," I scowled and remembered how awful my dad was. "Don't hurt him, ok?"

"Right," he nodded. "Capture him. Should I stay or do you want to be left alone?"

"Yeah, I want to be left alone for now, thanks."

He nodded and silently left, gently closing the door behind him. For a military leader, he was as soft and gentle as a puppy. I felt honoured to be around him. However, any feeling of honour was drowned out by the thought of my half brother. Did he know about my existence? Did he hate my dad as much as me? Felix...just who _were _you?

* * *

**Falco Lombardi**

While nobody was looking, I slipped into the hangar to check up on my newest friend; who seemed quieter than she usually did. The floor was cold on my talons as I slowly approached her landed gunship. I peered into the green window above and frowned, waving at it to see if she was there. After a minute where it seemed like she was hesitant, she lowered the elevator for me; which I gladly took up.

As per usual, her ship was dark and cold. I saw her just stood there in some kind of machine that was repairing her damaged suit. She looked so...vulnerable...I took a step forward towards the huntress, quietly uttering her name as I stared at her in concern. However, I was met by her voice calling my name from her chair. Was she not in her…?

I slowly turned and sat on a chair next to her as she spun hers toward me. My beak dropped at the sight before me. Samus Aran...unarmoured.

She wore an extremely tight fitting blue jumpsuit that didn't leave much to the imagination. Her forearms and legs were gray. The tight suit just seemed to show off her muscles (biceps, thighs, six pack etc.) really well. So her bulk wasn't just her suit. It was _her. _My eyes trailed up to her face. She was ghostly pale with large bags under her green eyes and her somewhat grizzled jawline was covered in battle scars. The golden fur on her head was a huge mess, unkempt and tied in a lazy tail that was resting on her shoulder. She was a mess, but she was still a looker. Even if she was much bigger and more masculine than me.

I stared up into her permanently exhausted eyes and frowned. She stared back at me with an almost vulnerable expression. I wondered just how many scars she wore under that jumpsuit. She definitely had seen her fair share of shit. I gave her a quick smile and scooted over to her on my chair.

"Have you ever felt...weak?" She suddenly asked, her usually strong voice wavering somewhat and her eyes struggling to look into mine. She seemed to flinch at the word 'weak.' "Like, something is enough to destroy your confidence and ability to cope…?"

"Yeah, a few times," I sighed and remembered things I'd rather not. I removed my jacket and zipped my jumpsuit down, enough to show off the medical brace around my arm. "Same shadow that messed you up did _this _to me."

"_Dark Samus…_" Samus hissed under her breath and stared at my arm intently. She shook her head and gritted her teeth, her hands clenched into tight fists. Even out of armour, she was intimidating as all hell. Though she sighed and loosened up, standing and taking a step towards me. She knelt and looked into my eyes. "Your arm has probably healed by now, remove the rest of your top so I can remove it for you."

"Alright," I followed her instructions and removed my other arm from my sleeve, leaving my jumpsuit top dangling around my waist as I sat there, completely shirtless. I smirked and held my arm out for her. "First time a woman has told me to pop my top."

"..." she just gave me a deadpan stare and studied my arm, holding it in her left arm by the wrist and fiddling with the brace with her right. My smile widened more as I studied her right hand. I was surprised that she even had one under that arm cannon of hers. I relaxed and stayed as still as possible as she slowly removed the wires and thin tubes from my arm one by one, hissing as they literally were removed from my flesh. She noticed as I winced in pain and placed her left hand on my shoulder and squeezed it, removing the final tube and letting the brace fall to the floor with a resounding thud. I flexed my fingers in satisfaction, glad to have that heavy thing off. She quickly took my arm in her strong hands and examined it more professionally. "Flex, any pain?"

"I don't think so…" I started moving my arm around freely with little to no pain. I smiled as an aura of freedom washed over me, felt awesome to have a free arm again. I flexed and showed my bicep, feeling my guns with my other hand. Though, I still felt a bit funny about how her's were still bigger than mine. She was a _beast_ of a woman...I smiled and made eye contact with her. "Yeah, I'm all good, thank you, Samus."

"My pleasure, Falco," she simply responded with a somewhat relaxed voice. We made direct eye contact for an uncomfortable amount of time as she forgot to unhand my shoulder. We were silent for a slight moment before she let go of me and looked at the floor, blushing lightly and holding her blonde ponytail in embarrassment. I smirked at seeing this sensitive side of this human woman. She was kinda…_cute..._in a way. I raised an eyebrow at her; which she noticed and blushed even harder. "I uh...apologise for that...you just reminded me of my _Chozo_ guardians…"

I dropped my sly smile when her eyes seemed to fill with sadness when mentioning her chozo friends. The same kind of sadness I see in Fox when he speaks about his dad. I immediately sat straight up and placed my hand on her shoulder, giving her a supportive squeeze. My gentle touch made her shudder hard. She looked up at me with her mouth slightly agape. I gave her another squeeze, paired with a nod. Without even thinking of myself, I got closer.

"I'm sorry, Samus…" I genuinely frowned, letting all cockiness or jokes leave my system. "You wanna talk about it…?"

"They took me in after my parents were killed, when I was three…" she suddenly explained while sadly staring at my feet. "That was twenty-five years ago...when I was nineteen, the space pirates slaughtered them."

Her hands, which were rested on her lap, scrunched into tight fists. Rage, sadness, regret and fear painted themselves on her face. Her teeth were gritted. I only held her shoulder tighter.

"I'm sorry, Sam," My heart fell to my stomach as I could only _imagine _the pain and heartbreak she's experienced in her life. Even at a year younger than her, I haven't seen _nearly_ as much crap as her. My only traumatic experience was my dad walking on us when I was young… "I can't imagine what you've been through…"

"It's...it's fine…" she sighed and grabbed the bridge of her nose, resisting the urge to cry. I could simply see it in her eyes. I grabbed her other shoulder and stared into her green eyes to show her I was here. She leaned towards me and slowly wrapped her arms around my body. W-wow...didn't help that I was topless. Her grasp was strong and tight, I could feel her muscles on my body. I blushed as she rested her head on my shoulder. Not being one to disappoint, I withdrew my arms from her shoulders and gripped her body closely. As awkward as this was, it was quite comfortable, she had an exotic scent about her, humans were weird. I felt her fingers feeling my feathers gently. She shuddered and attempted to pull back. "I-I'm sorry, this isn't very appropriate—"

"Shh, it's alright…" I smiled and hugged her tightly. "Just let it out."

We stayed together for about a minute at most before splitting apart. She blushed and gave me a weak smile. First time I've seen this from her. I smirked and zipped up my jumpsuit as we both stood up. Even out of armour, she stood way above me. My smirk faded when I saw just how gaunt and pale she was. She seemed a bit ill and injured. Dark Samus did a real number to her. I offered her my prized jacket, which she gladly took from me and donned. Looked good on her.

"C'mon, the guys wanna see you, they're worried," I began walking to the elevator. "Sure you can be seen out of armour?"

"..." She looked down and tugged on my jacket. "I think so. Hold on a sec."

She began typing something on her suit repair dock. Something about gravity enhancements. Whatever that meant. She stepped onto the elevator with me and made awkward eye contact. I smirked as the elevator descended.

"Y'know, this is a good look for you. You should do it more," my smirk turned into a wide grin. "I'm sure we have a spare coat in your size."

"H-heh. Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it." She smirked.

However, before we descended, I gripped her shoulder and smiled softly. If she can make compromises, I can too. I let my true self out.

"Samus," I gently spoke. "Next time we run into Dark Samus, we don't have to be alone. We can kick her ass _together_."

"Falco...I…" she struggled to speak, an extremely grateful look in her eyes. We went down the lift together. "Thank you."

**End of Chapter...**


	6. Chapter 5: Fichina 'Flight'

(AN) I am so sorry about the delay, everyone, personal life and my other fic got in the way '^.^

But I'm back in the groove thankfully!

(side note, I messed up in my writing, accidentally making samus and falco appear older than they are, Samus is 28 and Falco 27 respectivally, sorry for any mix up .)

Again, I'm sorry, without further delay,

Let's Begin!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Fichina 'Flight' **

**Falco Lombardi**

I waited just in front of Samus' ship for her to come out. After three days of rest and rebuilding, (as well as defending from skirmishes here and there.) we pushed on to the nearby ice hellhole of Fichina. Never cared for that planet anyway. Always froze my feathers stiff. I tapped my foot on the ground waiting for the huge huntress. Her armour was apparently fully repaired.

We got a kick out of everyone's reactions to her out of armour. She was a titan of a woman out of armour and the others couldn't comprehend her massive size. Samus must've ate her vegetables growing up. Even a tallass like me couldn't compare to that 6'6" monster, heh.

As I chuckled to myself, the lift depressurised and lowered, clouded by steam. I anticipated the familiar figure of the armour-clad bounty hunter, however, I was caught off guard by the neon blue visor and armour lights that pierced the smoke. My jaw dropped as she approached me in her new armour. The once bright orange shoulders, legs and arms of her armour were replaced by a gorgeous deep purple, (though the reds and yellows remained the same.) and her visor burned a bright blue.

I stared up and the purple monster before me, very impressed by her new paint job. I whistled and rubbed my chin. In her left hand was my coat, which she handed back to me. I gladly took it and re-equipped myself. I didn't look right without it.

"Look at you!" I admired the shininess of the new Varia Suit. I could practically see my face reflected in it. "Now that is a nice change, very aethstetic."

"The Gravity Suit," Samus begun as we walked together to the briefing room. Her once sad and vulnerable demeanor was replaced by her usual stoicism and powerful stance. "Designed for maximum mobility underwater and can withstand heats over the boiling point of rock."

"So you can swim in lava?"

"Essentially."

"Niiiice," I smirked with a coo, suddenly wanting a set of that armour for myself. "You got some seriously good gadgets on your side, you could win this damn war yourself if you wanted!"

"I suppose, however, your team has been excellent allies," A sudden softness appeared in her voice as we stopped outside the briefing room. She looked down at me through her downed visor with powerful eyes. "I would give my life for allies like Star Fox."

I felt a massive wave of honour surge through me as she said that. She's grown really accustomed to us, huh? Heck, I would give her that spare jacket once this was all over! Without more words, we entered the familiar briefing room of the Grand Fox, where everyone was gathered and waiting for us. All eyes looked to Samus and her new coat of paint. They were clearly all impressed. Fox cleared his throat, however he did not break his line of vision with her armour.

"Incoming transmission from General Pepper and Admiral Cooke. Quiet down, everybody."

We all stood around the hologram emitter as our commanding officers appeared.

"_We cannot overstate how well you performed on Katina, Star Fox," _Cooke began, stroking his beard wisely. "_We've put those bastards on the run. Their invasion efforts have failed and they've fallen back and are waiting for us to come to them. Don't get cocky now, we haven't won yet."_

"_With information gathered by Slippy, Falco and Samus, we have planned a sneak attack on their base on Fichina, as you already know," _General Pepper continued. "_The information they had suggested that we'd be attacking Fortuna next and they've sent a majority of their defence force there. In response we've sent in a decoy fleet over to them while you surgically remove this base on Fichina."_

"_They won't expect us. You will attack at night and cause as much chaos and panic until you give the word or until sunrise. They'd detect our fleet long before we got to the base and prepare. That's why we need you to fly low and cause chaos, Star Fox."_

"Fly in, cause chaos and leave at sunrise. Sounds like a simple mission," I chuckled and shook my head. "Any catches?"

"_Not that we're aware of, no, Falco," _Cooke shook his head. "_This is a by the books mission, we're confident that you can complete it effortlessly. Good luck, Star Fox."_

"_And good flying!" _

"You heard them, everyone! Same dance as before! Cover for Samus as she takes out the guns!" Fox began as the transmission died. "Let's go!"

We all cheered and ran for our ships with little words or complications, This was gonna be a walk in the park compared to the hell that was the last mission. Which was good, the less time spent on that miserable snowball, the better. Star Fox and Samus all gathered in our ships and took off to the frigid world, readying ourselves for the mission. We entered the atmosphere with relative ease as Slippy turned on his radar jammers. That toad had a solution to everything, I swore. We broke the cloud layer and flew low over the icy fields. I made sure to turn the heat up.

"_Ok, their main base is a few clicks away," _Slippy informed us. "_They do have anti aircraft guns, however, our surprise attack will make it so they won't have time to shoot us!"_

"_Look at the snow, Miyu!" _Fay laughed adorably to her partner in crime. "_It's beautiful!"_

"It's about as white as you are, Fay!" I laughed with her as we flew over the flat, icy expanse. My eyes couldn't help but stare up at the bands of glowing blue and green in the sky. Aerora. "Gotta admit; this planet at night is _pretty _nice, wouldn't you all agree?"

"_If she likes it, I like it!" _Miyu responded first with an almost flirty tone.

"_It reminds me of my time on Tallon IV," _Samus idly commented. "_Good times."_

"_I can't feel my fingers…" _Fox complained, his inner desert boy showing.

"_Yes, it is quite a lovely planet," _a smooth, unknown voice suddenly hijacked our transmission. Who the hell?! "_Pity it's sullied with your presence."_

We stayed silent for a few moments. Our transmission was hijacked. Before we could even say anything, a giant EMP wave hit all of our ships, sending us plummeting down to the surface. The only systems that still functioned were the communication screens. Bastard likely did that on purpose. We got a slight glance of his portrait as we crashed. He was a gaunt mammal, mostly white and had black spots around his large, amber eyes. Raccoon maybe? He adjusted his glasses and smirked. Upon closer inspection, he was a monkey alright. Lemur.

"_Warmest' regards from me," _the lemur smiled snidely. "_Doctor X. A 'pleasure' to make your acquaintance. I'll be...monitoring...progress from here on out. I wish to study how a group of people so reliant on machinery survive in this climate with nothing but their wits and limited technology. Who better than the finest warriors in the galaxy? Nothing personal, Star Fox. X out."_

"L-Losing control!" I gasped and pulled up as best I could. Controls were unresponsive! I panicked internally. Was this it?! Would we _die_ here?! "No no no! Guys?! Can you hear me?!"

…

No response…

I gulped and braced for impact, alone and afraid…

…

My Arwing jolted and crashed violently against the tundra ground, my cockpit getting covered in snow and ice. Airbags deployed and saved me from any grievous injuries. I skidded to a halt in the middle of a large, empty field, as did all of my allies thankfully. I sucked in as much air as I could and readied myself for freezing temperatures. We got played. _Hard. _I hesitantly popped my cockpit and gasped as my body was wrapped in a sheet of icy wind. Almost immediately, I began shivering and holding myself. This was _hell. _Everyone else slowly exited their ships and had similar reactions to me.

My heart sunk a little when I noticed Fay clinging to Miyu for warmth as the taller feline pulled the smaller canine out of her ship. I could see tears forming in her eyes. Poor girl. Miyu just held her closely and gave me a thumbs up to signal that they were ok. Next to emerge were fox, Krystal and Slippy, all of which huddled together and scanned the environment. They seemed relieved that we were all ok. Last to emerge was Samus; whose ship seemed to be running on extreme emergency power. She beckoned us all over with a wave of her arm cannon.

"Get to my ship! It's warm in here!" She yelled from her elevator. None of us hesitated. My boots crunched under the snow heavily. It was about ankle deep snow. First to ascend were the rookies, who couldn't be physically separated. I was the last to ascend, doing so with Samus. She stared at me blankly from under her visor. Even she was stumped. Was not a good sign. "We should think of something...fast."

* * *

Here we all sat, seven soldiers huddled together with hot drinks in hands and trying to figure something out. Samus, Slippy and I sat on the three chairs while poor Krystal, Fox, Miyu and Fay were delegated to the floor. They didn't seem to mind. Fox and Krystal sat shoulder to shoulder, formulating a plan. Miyu and Fay silently sat together under a provided blanket. Fay was shivering like all heck. This was bad.

"Damn it!" Fox punched the floor, all the hope and determination in his eyes completely absent. "How did we let this happen?!"

"This isn't our fault, Fox…" Krystal sighed and clutched her cup of coffee tightly and peered out of the window. "Should we wait for backup?"

"No can do, our communications have been completely fried…" Slippy answered in a sad tone. "And they'd likely be hit with the same EMP. Long story short, we've lost this battle. X outplayed us. _Majorly._"

"W-what do we do now?" the spaniel gulped and clutched her friend closely.

"Honestly, I have no idea…" The toad sighed and shut his eyes somberly.

"Wait around and become popsicles, that's the only thing I can see us doing in the near future," I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. I sat back in my chair and sighed. "We're fucked."

"No," Samus spoke up and stood, tally and proudly. All eyes were on her. "What happened to the Star Fox of three days ago?! I've seen you operate and fight! This is _nothing!" _

We all remained silent as the armoured huntress spoke.

"We still have a mission to do!" She barked, not unlike a drill sergeant. "And we _will _see it through! Ships or no ships! There's seven of us, that's more than enough to destroy their base from within! We'll make it there on foot and continue our assignment! Who's with me?!"

Her blue visor flashed brightly, a burning passion in her voice. I was the first to stand and unholster my gun.

"Might as well give it a try," I shrugged. "We could sit around freezing with our thumbs up our asses or we could actually _try _to get shit done. Might die in the process, but hey, at _least _we tried."

"Damn right!" Miyu stood up quickly with fire in her eyes. She looked at us all with a passionate gaze, she was new, but god damn, she had balls. I liked her. The lynx raised her arms powerfully. "I wanna go down in a blaze of glory! So I'm with Samus and Falco here. Anyone else with us?!"

"A-anywhere you go, Miyu," Fay gulped and nervously stood, barely coming up to her lynx friend's shoulder. "I go with you, I don't want you getting hurt…"

First Slippy stood, then Krystal. I saw pride, awe and shock well up in Fox's green eyes as he was the last to stand.

"Everyone…" The orange canine smiled widely with shining eyes. "I'm so proud to have you all in a team. I dunno where I'd be without all of you guys."

"Getting sappy, eh Fox?" I chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Never, Falco," the fox smirked at me, his eyes trailing to the human huntress. "Samus. Thanks for everything so far. Even despite knowing each other for what, a week, you're the finest ally we've ever had. We'd _kill _to have you in Star Fox!"

Samus was quiet for a moment, scanning everyone in the room with a lowered visor. Her tired eyes were wide for once.

"I'm honoured…" She nodded and reached her left hand out. Fox smiled widely and took her much bigger hand in his fuzzy paw. I'll join, if you'd have me."

"Guys, say hello to our newest member!" Fox cheered. I clapped with a big smile.

"Welcome to the family, Sam," I spoke softly and patted her shoulder. "We're happy to have you."

"Thank you…" Her voice was gent;e, but quickly became her usual hard tone. "We still have a mission to do. We should move out ASAP!"

"Underneath your arwing seats are your emergency supplies," the toad enformed us as we began leaving to our ships. "A parka, some grenades and submachine guns are in there. Don't wanna leave those behind!"

With that information, we retrieved our items and headed out, one Star Fox member stronger. Watch out, Dr X. We were coming for your sorry ass!

* * *

**Fox McCloud**

Miyu, Fay, Krystal and I overlooked one side of a large base nestled into the rocky cliffs of Fichina. We had broken off into two teams, we were Alpha Team. Bravo Team consisted of Slippy, Falco and Samus. They were sneaking in first. Hopefully they were in by now. We just stayed low, all huddled together at this ridge, investigating the base from a distance in our big warm parkas, SMGs close on hand. I lay prone at the edge of the cliff, scanning the battlements through binoculars. I glanced back at the three women I was with to make sure they were ok.

Krystal scanned the area with green eyes; lying in the snow with her hood up to conceal her blue face for obvious camouflage reasons. She stared at me for a moment before looking over to the distant base, waiting for the signal. Beside her were Miyu and Fay. The Lynx was chatty and eccentric as always, however, the spaniel was a bit distant and looked around with sad eyes.

She must have been thinking about the mission or her half brother. I knew I'd be doing the same in her shoes. She sat close to Miyu, likely for her body warmth. They made a handsome pair. What was I doing? 'Shipping' your subordinates was hardly appropriate at that moment.

With a shake of the head, I continued observing their base; remembering the plan.

"_Once the spotlight on the east wing of the base 'malfunctions," _Slippy explained in my head again. "_That's your cue to approach the perimeter walls and sneak in via whatever means necessary."_

"_Bravo team will take out the reactors, it is up to you girls—and Fox to pursue and capture Dr. X. He can't take you all at once," _Falco continued. "_Meet back at our ships when the mission is complete. We'll serve as the distraction. This would usually be extremely risky, but with Samus here...y'know?"_

As if on cue, one of the spotlights went down on the east side, signalling us to come closer.

"Alright, girls, lets go!" I jumped down and made my approach to the base, SMG in hand. I put my hood up and made sure to stay low to the snowy ground. I heard the distinct sounds of gunshots and sirens, signaling that Falco, Slippy and Samus were doing their thing. "Stay down and keep your hoods up, apart from you Fay."

"The perks of having such a nice white coat is due, eh Fay?" Miyu chuckled and had to bend the most to stay down, her face mostly hidden in her coat. "lucky bitch."

"H-heh, yeah, " the short spaniel nervously chuckled. "Looks like a mile or two worth of running...my poor legs won't be happy with this…"

Part of me felt bad, she had very short legs because she was like 5'2" at _most_. Whatever the case, we had to press on.

The snow crunched under our boots, coming up to our shins. The cold air of Fichina was piercing and all consuming even with our coats. My breath was visible in the wind; the snow muffling any noises that may have blessed the frozen tundra. The serenity was only matched by the tension. However, as we got to roughly a half a mile away from the base, an extra loud announcement from the base flared up, drowning out the wind and the distant sounds of battle.

"_Veeeeery clever, Star Fox," _the smug voice of Dr. X boomed across the base. "_Outsmarting them is no hard task, no offence to the lovely guards of this facility, however, you can't outsmart me. The strategy was clear as day the second that spotlight went down. Mr Toad, if you're still with us, I commend you on your plan to get yourself in here with such limited options, however, you must realise that you're doomed. You're as inept as your father."_

From the battlements, an awful boom sounded, followed by a stream of gas. It to me a second to realise what it was.

I immediately started sprinting, looking back to the four women behind me.

"ARTILLERY! RUN!" I yelled as I was practically deafened by an explosion that wasn't far off where we were. I was sent flying away, landing face-first into the ice cold snow. My ears were ringing and in agony. Snow fell upon me as I desperately stared around for my teammates, but I couldn't see an inch past me. I could barely see the lights of the base, so I began sprinting for my damn life; zigzagging and weaving as best I could as shells exploded and boomed all around me. After a few minutes of sprinting, covered in dirt and melting snow, heaving without breath, I pushed up to the wall of the base and started coughing. "Fay?! Krystal?! Miyu?! Where are you?!"

"Over here!" I heard Krystal call back from the left. It looked like she made it to the wall first. "Fay's injured! Get over here!"

I silently nodded as my heart fell to my stomach for Fay. I siddled across the wall and got to the three. Krystal and Miyu were crouched down over a crying white spaniel, tending to a shrapnel wound on her shin. It was a large piece of metal sticking out of her leg.

"God, that looks bad…" I hissed and began examining the injury as Krystal was using her psychic powers to sooth the injury, prying the metal out as slowly as she could. Fay was sobbing lightly and hid her face in her Lynx friend's neck. Miyu was just silent as she held Fay closely, caressing the spaniel's head gently. "Miyu, Fay, I want you two to hide in a secure location once we get into the base. Fay's no good with that busted leg."

"D-don't leave me, Miyu…" Fay whimpered I shot a grappling hook up to the walls, tugging on the wires so they would not slip or fall.

Once the hooks were secured, I turned to Miyu and Fay.

"I won't, Fay…" Miyu reassured and held Fay tightly as Krystal got the shrapnel out of her leg. Fay cried as Krystal began patching up the wound. I aimed my SMG about to guard the three women. The lynx looked up at me from the floor. "I can carry her as we get up the wall. What's the plan, Sir?"

"Krystal and I will climb the wall and clear them out, you two follow me and Krystal will cover your rear," I pointed up to the wall and scratched my muzzle. "Next, we'll get you two to safety. Afterwards, it's just a case of meeting up with Falco, Slippy and Samus. Once we do, we take out their point defence systems, AA guns and then arrest Dr. X."

"Then escape before the base is flattened, I take it?" asked Krysta, soothing Fay as best she could.

"Exactly." I nodded and began to climb, preparing for combat.

"Kick some ass for us, Boss~" Miyu smirked; picking Fay up in a fireman hold over her shoulder. The lynx looked over to Fay and gave an idea. "If you can shoot from up there, you totally should! You'd be like a shoulder-mounted turret!"

"And please be careful, Krystal, Fox…" Fay shuddered from atop Miyu, scanning the environment. "And I'll try my best to protect you, Miyu...thanks for carrying me…"

With a simple hand gesture, I was the first to climb the wall. It was fifteen meters tall, made of hard metal. Ice cold wind pierced my parka, jumpsuit and even fur. Before I reached the top, I made sure that my SMG was suppressed before poking my head over. Almost immediately, I could hear the automated alarm systems blaring clearly through the wind. Bodies littered the battlements and a lot of the point defence cannons were destroyed.

"_Intruder alert! The walls have been breached! All security teams, report to the generators! The Hunter and her cohorts are attacking the power supply, this is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill!" _A panicked soldier warned the whole base.

Looked like I was clear for now. I stayed low and helped Krystal up as she got near the top. We then both lifted Fay up as Miyu climbed atop the battlements.

Troops ran through the courtyard of the base, all available watchtowers pointing their spotlights down, looking for Falco and his team. We took this opportunity to run across the battlements and into the base of one of the vacant watchtowers. A few bodies were at the base of the stairs, their sniper rifles with them.

"Fay…" I rubbed my chin and examined the snipers. I smiled and looked at the injured Spaniel confidentiality while picking it up. "Do you think you can provide covering fire and info? Don't need legs for that."

I held a high powered sniper rifle and radios we changed frequency out for her. While slung over Miyu's shoulder, the white dog bit her lip before nodding meekly, taking the rifle and radio from me.

"I'll try my best!" She gulped and looked down at her feline friend: who smiled back and began taking her up the stairs, picking up a few magazines from the fallen snipers.

"I'll take care of her, McCloud," Miyu gave a supportive thumbs up to Krystal and I. "We'll find our own way out before sunrise, y'hear? You two just meet up with the rest of the gang, take out that X guy and G-T-F-O!"

Krysal and I nodded and were about to leave.

"What does G-T-F-O mean?" I heard Fay meekly ask as she and Miyu disappeared up the stairs. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head at how innocent the spaniel could be.

Once back out to the frigid air, I looked through my binoculars at where all the enemy troops were running up to. Seemed to be gathering at a wing on the east side of the facility. I looked across the walls and saw the entrance to that area from the battlements. Good! I made hand signals to Krystal as to where we needed to go. The blue fox nodded as we snuck across the battlements, staying low.

"_I know you're out there somewhere, McCloud. You can't hide forever. You're lucky that your friends are providing an adequate distraction for you," _Dr. X taunted from somewhere within the base. "_I must admit, I'm impressed by how much progress your team is able to make even with such disadvantages. Such tenacity should be complemented."_

This bastard was difficult to understand. He _had _to be hiding something up his sleeve. I started thinking of every possible attack X could throw at us. He seemed dangerously intelligent. Whatever the case, I made sure to be as ready as possible.

We stayed close to the ground, avoiding the potential sniper sight lines. Using this moment of distraction, we pushed up to the door and slipped inside while no one was looking. A space pirate walked by, noticing Krystal and I, but was shot by Krystal with a silenced burst of fire before he could react. Falling down dead, we ran past the pirate's corpse and continued to sneak past the empty security offices and control rooms.

"_All available personnel, get to that damn generator! Reactors two and three have been taken down! Get your asses in there, damnit!" _The announcer growled over the radio as alarms blared inside the building.

"Damn, those three really did a number to this place," I idly commented as we ran past a bunch of Samus' handywork. Pirates and apes littered the floor, bodies still steaming from Samus' plasma beams. "Almost like we weren't needed."

"Let's just keep moving, we need to find Dr. X," Krytal added as we ran through a door into the main generator room, overlooking the large metal room from atop a large catwalk. Down below, I spotted Falco and Samus holding a line as Slippy was overloading the remaining generators. A majority of the reactors were smoking and offline.

"Samus, Falco, Slippy!" I yelled down to the trio. All three quickly looked up at me. "How's it looking down there?!"

"We're doing good, Fox!" Slippy responded, thumbs up. "We've secured this area and we're just destroying the power systems!"

"You two find Dr. X, we can't leave this area for a minute!" Samus added, shooting a few enemies as soon as they entered the room from the one door that wasn't barricaded. They effectively had a makeshift chokepoint or bottleneck. "We need this generators offline A.S.A.P, and we can't just blow them up without this facility going nuclear!"

"Where are the rookies?" Falco lastly yelled up. "They're not hurt, are they?!"

"Fay had a bit of an injury getting here, but she's fine!" Krystal responded for me, hands tightly holding the guard rail. "They've taken position in a nearby guard tower. Do you have any idea where Dr. X is?!"

"There's apparently a lab in the upper floors of the main compound, he's likely in there!" Our engineer buddy answered while typing on one of the generator's screens. "Just be careful you guys, he could have any number of tricks up his sleeve. We'll keep his goons distracted we can handle ourselves, right, Samus, Falco?"

"Easy as taking a piss!" Falco laughed, pointing his SMG to the door from behind his makeshift crate cover. "Haul ass, Fox, Krystal! Don't let us down!"

"We believe in you." Samus bluntly finished while locking down the area.

* * *

After a short time sneaking around, we got to the highest floor of this compound with minimal interference. Things were eerily quiet in the base, save from the distant gunshots and combat. I could even make out Fay taking down the other watchtower sniper teams through the windows. She was a decent shot. Krystal and I approached a large double metal door with a large red 'X' on it.

"Gee, talk about being full of yourself," I scowled and turned to Krystal: who was checking her ammo reserves. "Be ready for anything in there."

"Right. Think of the information I can telepathically get out of him." Krystal whispered while bracing herself, the metal doors screeching open. We looked at each other and nodded. "Let's go. Be careful.

A piano was playing from inside the large, eerie lab as we could make out parts of robots and weapons strewn about the dark floor; the only light source being that of dimly lit screens. I scowled harder as I kicked some broken gadgets out of the way, this asshole needed to clean up after himself.

"I do apologise, Mr McCloud," The lights turned on, revealing the lemur scientist casually sitting on a comfy stool by a coffee table, actively pouring himself a cup of tea. He adjusted his red tie and stirred his tea politely. We slowly approached him, our guns pointed at his forehead. Despite this, he remained dangerously calm. "Should I known I would have guests like this, I should have cleaned up after myself don't you think?"

Dr. X smiled at us sickly, adjusting his glasses coldly. I could see his large, yellow eyes scanning us rapidly.

"Don't think about fighting back, X," Krystal squinted and kept her distance as he blew on his hot drink, he was actively making a joke of the situation. "You're outnumbered and all of your generators are about to go down. Surrender and make this easy for both of us!"

He stood up, causing both of us to aim at him even more carefully.

"Come along quietly, now," I ordered, a scowl across my muzzle. "Looks like you underestimated us, _Doctor_. We don't _need _our ships and high tech equipment to complete a mission. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"You think I'm..._underestimating _you? Hmhmhm~" the Lemur chortled and held his mouth, pacing back and forth. He then took his glasses off and began cleaning them with his sleeve. "Dearest McCloud. You have more than lived up to your reputation, I must admit wholeheartedly. I wanted to test you and your team's...skills. Especially that huntress. Samus, was it? Apparently she has a reputation that precedes her. I wanted to find out just how good you are. I think I've gathered enough data for now. For now-"

I shot at him before he could pull a gun out of his lab coat. Before the bullets hit him, though, a barrier surrounded him. Doctor. X smiled cruelly and removed his empty hand from his coat.

"Quick to the draw, I see?" X chuckled and snapped his fingers, turning around. "I suppose if you want violence, you will have it, my new androids are willing to quench your thirst. The XR-One project is specifically designed to remove infections like you. For now, they're being mass produced for war. I think I've gathered enough information about you and your team from this experiment, do what you wish with this test facility. Well, should you survive my machines. Your deaths will iron out the kinks of their prototype programming. T-T-F-N."

Doctor. X waved back to us and casually left the room with a barrier around him. Before I could even chase him, red eyes from two cyclops robots lit up in the darkness. I gasped and backpedaled to Krystal, my gun tightly in my paws. We thought about running, but the door behind us was pressed shut. We were _trapped. _Two tall, lanky black robots emerged, their piercing red eyes scanning Krystal and I closely. My heart sank when I realized that their right arms were high powered gatling guns.

Krystal and I immediately dived out of the way the split second the robots started spinning up their guns. I landed behind some consoles and stayed as low as I possibly could, flinching as plasma beams tore the machine apart right above me. God damn those things would have made mincemeat out of me if I got hit by them. I laid low, avoiding any and all shots I could. Looked like these were just prototypes, their tracking wasn't very good. This was the only upside we had in this battle.

I peeked my head around the corner and fired a few, quick bursts in their general direction once I knew Krystal was out of the way. I saw sparks fly from one of the left arm of one of the robots, the impact of the bullets causing it to stumble a bit but it still managed to retaliate with a huge flurry of gatling fire which I only managed to avoid by activating my barrier emitter at the last second and diving away; taking critical damage to the shield. I winced, they were using bullets instead of energy attacks like me.

"_Suppressing fire mode engaged," _The robot pinning me said in a monotone voice. "_Eliminate the female target."_

"_Affirmative," _Its robotic cohort turned around by the sounds of it. I immediately began worrying for Krystal's safety. "_Grenade!"_

Grenade?!

A large flash lit up the area, accompanied by an ear piercing noise. A stun grenade? I looked at the equipment provided, picked out a frag grenade and threw it also. I could see both robots in an overloaded state because of that grenade. It looked like a stun/EMP grenade! Slip, you crafty bastard! With another bang, the frag grenade highly damaged one of the robots. In a rush of adrenaline, I noticed the one pinning me was still shooting into the ground. I jumped over and grabbed its arm, wincing from the utter heat the gun produced. I aimed the gatling gun and tore the already damaged robot to utter shreds, limb from limb. Gotcha, asshole!

A swift pain git my face as the remaining XR-1 punched me in the face, regaining its consciousness; or whatever equivalent a robot had. It ceased fire and looked at its dead friend for a moment as I clutched my now broken nose.

"_Gatling gun failure," _that arm fell off from overheating. "_Switching to CQC." _

From its remaining arm, a long, sharp serrated blade emerged; surrounded by an electrical aura. You had to be kidding me-

"Holy shit!"

I hissed and jumped out of the way of a quick lunge it made to me. With one elegant swipe, my parka and jumpsuit top was in tatters. _Why was everything destroying my clothes as of recent?! _Left shirtless, I began opening fire on the robot while avoiding its powerful swings. This bastard was unrelenting to say the least. Krystal sprinted and jumped onto its back and stabbed it in the neck with her combat knife before trying to shove a grenade in the huge sparking hole. The XR-1 quickly reacted and spun its body around quickly, throwing the psychic fox off it before she could pull the pin.

"_Sustaining critical damage..." _XR-1 sparked and began leaking lubricants from its open wound before assessing the situation. _Outnumbered. Without primary weapon, cannot attack two targets at once. Victory percentage...marginal. Self Destruct Sequence initiated."_

Its chest suddenly opened, revealing its core, sparking and beeping, starting one last, mad kamikaze rush to me.

I braced myself and activated my barrier, not before Krystal tackled me into a hug, her own barrier up and her eyes glowing blue with psychic energy. She held me in some tight hug as XR-1 exploded in a blinding and deafening light. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Krystal and I were flying over the icy tundra of Fichina inside our massively damaged barriers. The entire top of X's base was practically gone, left as a small mushroom cloud with falling debris. Holy hell that was some explosion. Before we hit the ground, a blue aura surrounded us, gently placing us down. Our barrier emitters broke, but we were very much alive.

"Was...was that you?" I stared at the destroyed base as all the lights began going out. "I didn't know you had telekinesis…"

"I-I do...fuck…" Krystal coughed and wobbled, but stayed standing. "It's weak, though...never properly trained with it before the Cernians died...takes a physical toll on my body...looks like mission complete, though...It's dawn now, the fleet should destroy the place in an hour or two…"

"Mm, you're right," I started shivering due to my half-nakedness, but unhooked the stolen radio from my waist. "Miyu, Fay. I want you two to get outta there. We're leaving now, not much else to do. Bravo Team is probably on their way out now. Mission Complete."

* * *

As the morning sun rose over the icy plains, regrouped back at the ridge near our ships, all of Star Fox, including our new recruit, Samus watched proudly as a Galactic Federation Attack Cruiser bombarded the ever living shit out of the place, leaving only a pile of smouldering ash and rubble in its wake. Krystal and I huddled up together for warmth, Samus and Falco stood quietly, side by side at the front of the ridge, discussing something. They seemed like they had a good friendship growing. They were a mighty fine team with Slippy. They caused significant damage to the base as Slippy stole nearly their entire database. Miyu and Fay were also huddled up close, the smaller spaniel in the arms of the lynx. Poor Fay deserved a hug after today. Even in pain and suffering, she refused to cry. She Held steadfast and watched the base go up in flames. Apparently, without her covering fire, Falco could have almost gotten shot. Star Fox was in its prime!

But we were only halfway to Venom, and Dr X had been studying us apparently. Whatever info he gave to Andrew and Dark Samus would likely be used against us, but we would be ready for it. Even in the darkest days, against Andross and the Aparoids, we persisted. Morale was high, even after what seemed like a suicide mission. As the base was but a crater, we all turned on our heels, making our way back to our ships, victorious, hurt, and hungry…

_**End of Chapter...**_


End file.
